CORRESPONDENCE 


BETWEEN 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE, 


1794  TO  1805. 


TRANSLATED  BY 


GEORGE  H.  CALVERT 


NEW  YORK  AND  LONDON  : 

WILEY  AND  PUTNAM 
1845. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1845,  by 

aEORGE  H.CALVERT, 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  Southern 
District  of  New  York. 


R.  cr^AlGHEAD'S  Power  Pi*s., 
112  FuUoii-slreet. 


PREFACE. 


The  Letters  between  Schiller  and  Goethe  are  a  re- 
cord kept  by  friendship  of  the  habitual  feelings  and 
thoughts  of  two  great  Poets.  If  the  translator  has 
adequately  executed  his  grateful  task,  he  will  have 
the  pleasure  of  opening  to  the  American  and  Eng- 
lish reader  the  richest  epistolary  treasure  that 
literature  contains.  There  is  no  other  instance  of 
affectionate  union  between  two  men  of  such  genius, 
intellect,  and  culture ;  and  that,  under  circumstances 
peculiarly  adapted  to  promote  a  rapid  interchange  of 
letters.  The  correspondence,  which  consists  of  more 
than  nine  hundred  letters,  embraces  ten  years  of  the 
prime  of  both,  and  ended  only  with  Schiller's  life. 
At  its  opening,  Schiller,  who  had  recently  been 
appointed  by  the  Grand  Duke  of  Weimar,  Professor 
of  History  in  the  University  of  Jena,  was  in  his 
thirty-fifth  year,  and  Goethe,  who  was  one  of  the 
Grand  Duke's  Ministers  in  Weimar,  in  his  forty-fifth. 
This  proximity  of  their  places  of  residence  fed  the 
correspondence,  by  keeping  their  friendship  warm 
through  frequent  personal  intercourse.  Their  labors 
animated  their  letters,  the  letters  created  a  want  of 


iv 


PREFACE. 


the  fuller  and  freer  communication  by  conversation, 
conversation  gave  fresh  impulse  to  their  labors,  and 
thus  their  friendship,  founded  on  the  broadest  mutual 
esteem,  and  fostered  by  an  ever  active  circle  of  invi- 
gorating influences,  uttered  itself  in  a  correspond- 
ence as  cordial  as  it  is  intellectual.  Poetry,  science, 
literature,  religion,  art,  philosophy,  subjects  that  are 
the  familiar  inmates  of  such  minds,  come  up  con- 
stantly, of  course,  and  are  touched  v^ith  the  free  and 
masterly  strokes  to  be  expected  in  confidential  effu- 
sions betv^^een  Goethe  and  Schiller.  The  reader 
rises  w^ith  them  into  the  regions  where  such  men 
have  chiefly  their  being,  and  there  v^ith  them  partakes 
of  their  w^holesome  indifference  to  what  are  com- 
monly regarded  as  the  great  interests  of  life.  In  the 
easy,  eager,  private  discussion  of  the  principles  that 
underlie  the  fundamental  departments  of  human 
thought,  we  behold  in  a  manner  the  secret  growth 
of  these  two  extraordinary  minds.  We  witness  the 
relaxation  of  giants  :  we  can  figure  to  ourselves  what 
may  be  the  sports  of  gods. 

In  putting  the  German  into  English,  the  translator 
has  been  as  direct  and  literal  as  is  compatible  with 
our  own  idiom,  preserving  at  the  same  time,  with  the 
original,  the  laxness  proper  to  a  sincere  epistolary 
style. 

Omissions  are  occasionally  made  of  whole  and 
parts  of  letters,  chiefly  of  such  as  relate  to  business 
transactions  connected  with  publishers,  and  with  the 
editing  of  the  Horen  and  Almanac.    The  former  are 


PREFACE. 


V 


indicated  by  stars,  the  latter  will  be  perceived  by 
chasms  in  the  sequence  of  the  numbers.  A  few 
brief  notes  are  added  for  the  assistance  of  the  reader. 

This  volume  contains  about  one-half  of  the  original 
work  ;  the  remaining  portion  will  follow  in  another 
volume  of  similar  size.* 

The  translator  cannot  withhold  a  few  words  on  the 
passage  relating  to  Goethe  in  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa 
oration  delivered  at  Cambridge  in  1844.  From  its 
elevated  birth-place  that  passage  has  flown  over  the 
whole  land.  On  a  formal  public  occasion  a  blind 
and  most  rude  assault  has  been  made  on  one  of  the 
mightiest  of  the  dead,  whose  soul  lives  on  the  earth, 
and  will  for  ages  live,  in  the  exaltation  of  the  loftiest 
minds.  Out  of  stale  German  gossip,  out  of  shallow 
wailings  of  prosaic  critics,  shallower  clamors  of 
pseudo-patriots,  uncharitable  magnification  of  com- 
mon failings,  in  a  discourse  especially  designed  to 
enforce  the  virtue  of  truth,  were  compounded  those 
pages  reeking  with  calumny  against  one  of  the  fore- 
most men  of  the  world,  and  the  most  honored  man  of 
a  people  rich  in  virtue  and  in  genius.  Goethe  is 
called  "  selfish,  false,"  "  a  bad  man,"  "  whose  name  is 
throughout  Germany  almost  a  synonyme  for  disso- 
luteness," "  a  false  man,"  guilty  of  "  treachery  and 

*  This  work  was  intended  to  make  one  of  the  "  Specimens  of 
Foreign  Literature,"  the  publication  of  which  was  discontinued  two 
or  three  years  since.  As  probably  many  who  possess  that  valuable 
series  of  translations  will  like  to  connect  this  one  with  it,  its  title, 
through  the  courteous  permission  of  the  editor  of  the  "Specimens," 
Mr.  Riplev,  has  been  adoDted. 

1* 


vi 


PREFACE. 


cold-blooded  trifling  with  the  peace  and  virtue  of 
others,"  one  who  could  with  "  the  unruffled  equani- 
mity of  profound  self-love  calmly  survey  the  ruin  he 
had  wrought  in  hearts  that  confided  in  him."  On 
reading  such  phrases  coupled  with  the  name  of 
Goethe,  indignation  gives  place  to  astonishment  at 
beholding  this  monstrous  brood,  begotten  by  pre- 
sumption upon  a  Pharisaical  morality. 

Hard  it  is  to  conceive  of  a  sound  mind  erring  so 
grossly,  with  knowledge  of  the  works  of  Goethe  ;  and 
harder  to  believe  that  it  should  dare  to  pronounce  so 
sweeping  a  censure  without  wide  and  minute  ac- 
quaintance with  the  chief  source  of  evidence  on  the 
moral  structure  of  a  poet.  How  little  outward  testi- 
mony survives  about  Shakspeare ;  but  whoso  can 
read  his  poetry,  may  get  a  knowledge  of  the  man 
surer  and  more  absolute  than  could  have  been  gotten 
even  from  the  fullest  contemporaneous  opinions.  As 
the  tree  is  known  by  its  fruit,  we  know  that  the  pa- 
rent of  the  Shakspearean  progeny  must  have  been  a 
man  in  whom,  in  close  alliance  with  a  kingly  intel- 
lect, dwelt,  as  well  the  virtues  that  ennoble,  as  the 
graces  that  beautify,  and  the  aifections  that  sweeten 
life.  Into  whatever  errors  an  ardent  temperament 
may  have  drawn  him,  they  dim  not  the  lucent  image 
of  him  fixed  in  our  minds  by  study  of  his  works  ; 
nay,  we  presume  not  to  wish  them  uncommitted,  lest 
an  attempt  to  better  such  a  bounteous  gift  from  God, 
should  mar  but  by  a  tittle  the  original  proportions  of 
one  the  sum  of  whose  life  has  been  to  the  world  an 


PREFACE. 


vii 


immeasurable  benefaction.  If  of  Goethe  we  knew 
no  more  than  can  be  learnt  from  his  works,  in  them 
there  is  that  will  convert  the  gall  of  such  abusive 
generalities  into  a  mere  nauseating  insipidity.  When 
a  bad  man's  brain  shall  give  birth  to  an  Iphigenia, 
a  Clara,  a  Mignon,  a  Macaria,  you  may  pluck  pome- 
granates from  Plymouth  rock,  and  reap  corn  on  the 
sands  of  Sahara. 

From  the  large  composition  of  Goethe's  mind,  as 
exhibited  in  his  poetry ;  from  the  justness  and  clear 
humanity  of  his  nature,  deducible  from  his  other  co- 
pious writings,  biographies,  travels,  criticism,  letters  ; 
from  his  known  acts  of  usefulness  and  generosity ; 
the  inference,  to  a  judgment  of  healthy  wholeness,  is 
direct,  that  he  was  habitually  upright  and  kind,  a 
man  who  could  not  do  an  injury  without  atoning  for 
it,  nor  err  without  repentance.  Of  himself,  as  a 
writer,  he  somewhere  says,  "  when  I  must  cease  to 
be  moral  I  have  no  power  more  ;"  and  if  he  had  been 
one  who  "  inwardly  felicitated  himself  upon  the  rich 
accession  to  his  artistic  domain,  furnished  from  suffer- 
ings he  had  himself  wantonly  caused,"  palsied  would 
have  been  his  hand  ere  he  had  written  a  verse,  and 
the  spring  of  poetry  within  him, — if  such  can  be 
imagined  ever  to  have  existed  in  a  mind  of  this 
diabolical  capacity, — would  have  shrivelled  to  a  pu- 
trid puddle.  "  If  this  is  harsh  judgment  upon  Goethe, 
the  voice  of  his  country  is  liable  for  it,  and  not  I," 
says  the  address.  Shame  !  Shame  !  W ere  there 
even  such  a  voice,  what  is  it  worth  ?    Hundreds  of 


viii 


PREFACK, 


thousands,  aye,  millions  of  respectable  people  there 
are  in  this  country,  who  through  religious  convic- 
tions proscribe  the  play-writer  Shakspeare,  and  who, 
were  they  to  read  Collier's  life  of  the  man,  would 
confirm  the  proscription  through  their  moral  code. 
But  what  evidence  were  this  to  cite  before  a  high 
literary  court ! 

Goethe  is  the  most  complete  man  of  his  time.  He 
is  the  richest  specimen  of  humanity  since  Shakspeare. 
In  him  the  manifold  capacities  of  our  nature  were 
centered  in  uncommon  individual  strength  and  rare 
aptness  to  refinement.  With  the  spontaneous  devel- 
opment inherent  in  such  fertility,  was  early  associat- 
ed a  monarchical  power  of  will  over  this  affluence 
of  resources.  From  youth  to  old  age,  his  daily 
endeavor  was  to  cultivate  and  purify  his  being.  And 
thus,  working  his  vast  faculties  of  intellect  and  sym- 
pathy to  the  utmost,  relieving  the  intense  hours  of 
poetic  creation  with  scientific  research,  with  the 
plastic  arts,  with  critical  elucidation,  with  the  labors 
of  the  statesman,  with  the  duties  of  theatrical  direct- 
or, with  the  pleasures  of  friendship  and  hospitality, 
he  went  on  his  shining  way,  having  had  already  in 
his  youth  the  strength  and  art  to  master  the  fiery 
passions  that  threatened  to  devour  him,  and  to  harness 
them  to  the  car  of  Poesy,  in  which,  another  Apollo, 
his  brow  bared  to  the  airs  of  Heaven,  and  his  eye 
glancing  towards  earth,  he  drove  triumphantly  and 
beneficently  through  the  seasons  of  manhood,  show- 
ering as  he  went  the  blossoms  and  flowers  and  fruits 


PREFACE. 


ix 


of  poetry  and  wisdom.  And  yet,  this  man,  so  won- 
drously  gifted,  and  so  nobly  using  his  gifts,  to  whom 
leading  men  throughout  Europe,  statesmen,  artists, 
poets,  philosophers,  are  thankful  for  their  best  cul- 
ture, whose  long  life  ripened  in  the  sunshine  of  un- 
broken friendships,  who  was  revered  by  the  spiritual 
Richter,  whom  the  fervent  aspiring  Schiller  loved 
and  looked  up  to,  this  man,  who  to  his  fellow  men 
has  left  a  bequest  to  which  that  of  a  hundred  Girards 
is  but  as  a  bushel  of  pebbles  to  the  Pitt  diamond, 
has  been  the  object  of  all  sorts  of  detraction,  to 
which  in  this  address  a  new  accusation  has  been 
added,  Goethe  being  here  upbraided,  for  the  first  time 
surely,  with  being — an  Artist ! 

"  He  was  a  great,  an  unequalled  Artist, — Artist, 
that  is  the  term  everywhere  applied  to  him, — a  term 
which,  as  applied  to  literary  men,  I  am  sorry  to  find 
is  getting  into  some  repute  amongst  us  as  a  term  of 
commendation.  In  Europe,  it  is  generally  a  term  of 
disparagement,  as  indicating  a  writer  whose  inspira- 
tion passes  not  through  the  heart,  and  whose  lofty 
sentiments  have  no  home  in  his  own  soul,  and  no 
expression  in  his  life." 

This  is  weakly  to  mistake  the  mimicry  of  smooth 
handiwork  for  creation,  and  the  cold  expertness  of 
technical  practice  for  the  magic  of  genius.  Art  can- 
not be  without  the  closest  union  of  judgment  and 
sensibility  ;  it  implies  a  marriage  between  intellect 
and  soul.  It  is  the  fairest  offspring  of  the  human 
mind.    Its  beginning  of  existence  is  a  rising  upward 


X 


PREFACE. 


from  the  finite  towards  the  infinite.  Its  Ufe  is  a 
struggle  after  perfection.  Its  home  is  in  the  inmost 
chambers  of  the  spirit,  where  it  is  apparelled  by- 
Beauty  to  shed  radiance  on  the  earth.  Art  does  not 
merely  copy  nature,  it  cooperates  with  her,  it  inter- 
prets nature,  it  makes  palpable  her  finest  essence,  it 
reveals  the  spiritual  source  of  the  corporeal  by  the 
perfection  of  its  incarnations,  and  thus  gives  us  re- 
glimpses  into  that  realm  whence 

"  Trailing  clouds  of  glory  do  we  come." 

Art  is  mental  procreation,  and  the  mind  of  a  peo- 
ple can  no  more  grow  without  Art  than  its  body 
can  without  generation.  It  embalms  the  past,  it 
beautifies  the  present,  it  facilitates  and  widens  the 
future.  The  Artist,  therefore,  whose  ministry  is  so 
high,  deserves  to  be,  and  is,  cherished  and  honored 
as  the  refiner,  vivifier,  benefactor  of  his  country  and 
race.  For  instruction  on  this  point,  the  writer  of  the 
address  is  referred  to  various  passages  in  these  let- 
ters, and  to  the  poems  of  Schiller,  whom  he  bepraises 
with  such  puerile  incompetence  ;  and,  for  illustration, 
to  the  chief  sources  of  glory  and  enduring  influence 
among  nations  that  have  ascended  to  power  and  dig- 
nity. Without  her  Artists,  her  Dante,  Michael  An- 
gelo,  Raphael,  Canova,  what  were  Italy  ?  They  were, 
and  they  are,  the  soul  of  her  being  ;  they  still  shield 
from  contempt  her  down-trodden  body.  The  great- 
est man  of  England,  Shakspeare,  is  the  foremost 
Artist  of  the  world,  and  it  was  by  his  "  so  potent 


PREFACE. 


xi 


art"  that  he  lifted  his  native  land  highest  among  the 
nations,  and  keeps  her  uplifted,  as  by  an  unrusting 
golden  chain  suspended  from  the  vaults  of  Heaven. 
Second  only  to  him  is  the  German,  Goethe,  v^^ho  by 
his  single  might  raised  a  vi^hole  great  people  in  the 
scale  of  civiHsation : 

Sage,  philosopher,  naturalist  and  bard, 
Whose  beautiful  proportions,  port  serene, 

Disguise  more  fire  and  strength  than  oft  have  marr'd 
Less  perfect  natures  ;  who,  with  vision  keen 

And  culture  wide,  knew  best  how  to  enguard 
The  brain- built  structure  with  a  thoughtful  art. 
And  unto  each  the  fittest  form  impart, 
Baltimore,  January,  1845. 


CORRESPONDENCE 

BETWEEN 

SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


Respected  Sir  : 

The  accompanying  paper  contains  the  wish  of  a  circle, 
whose  regard  for  you  is  unbounded,  to  honor  the  periodical 
work  to  which  it  relates  with  contributions  from  your 
hand.  On  the  rank  and  value  of  what  you  may  contri- 
bute, there  can  be  among  us  but  one  voice.  Your  deter- 
mination to  give  your  support  to  this  undertaking,  will  be 
decisive  of  its  successful  issue  ;  and  with  the  most  willing 
readiness  we  will  agree  to  whatever  conditions  you  may 
attach  to  your  accession  to  our  proposal. 

Here  in  Jena,  Messrs.  Fichte,*  Weltmann,!  and  Hum- 
boldt,J  have  united  for  the  publication  of  this  journal.  And 
as,  according  to  a  necessary  arrangement,  the  offered 
manuscripts  will  have  to  be  decided  upon  by  a  smaller 

*  The  celebrated  metaphysician. 

t  A  historian  of  note. 

X  Brother  to  the  well-known  traveller. 

1 


2 


C  0  R  n  E  S 1'  O  X  D  E  X  C  E  BETWEEN 


number,  we  shall  be  infinitely  beholden  to  you  if  you  will 
allow  occasionally  a  manuscript  to  be  laid  before  you  for 
examination.  The  more  extensive  and  intimate  the  parti- 
cipation with  which  you  shall  honor  our  undertaking,  the 
more  will  its  value  rise  in  the  eyes  of  that  portion  of  the 
public  whose  approbation  is  most  important  to  us. 

With  the  highest  respect,  I  remain  your  obedient  ser- 
vant and  sincere  admirer, 

Jena,  June  19,  1794. 

Fr.  Schiller. 

II. 

You  open  to  me  a  doubly  agreeable  prospect,  through 
the  periodical  work  you  design  to  publish,  and  through  the 
participation  in  it  to  which  you  invite  me.  With  pleasure, 
and  with  all  my  heart,  I  will  be  one  of  the  company. 

If  there  be  among  my  unprinted  papers  anything  that  is 
suitable  for  such  a  collection,  I  will  communicate  it  wil- 
lingly. A  closer  connection  with  such  sterling  men  as  the 
undertakers  of  this  work  will,  I  am  sure,  give  new  life  to 
much  that  is  now  stagnant  within  me. 

Of  itself  it  will  be  a  very  interesting  occupation,  to  dis- 
cuss and  agree  upon  the  principles  by  which  the  submitted 
articles  shall  be  tried,  and  so  to  watch  over  substance  and 
form,  that  this  periodical  Avork  shall  excel  all  others,  and 
preserve  its  superiority  at  least  for  a  series  of  years. 

I  hope  soon  to  communicate  with  you  by  word  on  this 
subject,  and  for  the  present  take  leave  of  you  and  your 
esteemed  co-laborers. 

Weimar,  June  24,  1794. 

Goethe. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


3 


III. 

Herewith  you  will  receive  back,  with  thanks,  the 
Schockerian  treatise  ;  v/hat  I  understand  of  it  I  like  very 
well,  the  rest  he  will  no  doubt  in  time  explain. 

At  the  same  time  I  send  Moritz  and  Diderot,  and  hope 
thereby  to  make  my  parcel  useful  and  agreeable. 

Hold  me  in  friendly  remembrance,  and  be  assured  that  I 
enjoy  a  lively  pleasure  in  the  prospect  of  a  more  frequent 
interchange  of  ideas  with  you.  Present  my  respects  to 
your  circle.  Unexpectedly  I  am  obliged  to  go  to  Dessau, 
and  must  postpone  for  some  time  the  pleasure  of  seeing  my 
Jena  friends. 

Weimar,  July  25,  1794. 

Goethe. 

IV. 

Jena,  23d  August,  1794. 

I  RECEIVED  yesterday  the  agreeable  news  that  you  had 
returned  from  your  journey.  We  may,  therefore,  hope  to 
see  you  soon  among  us  again,  which,  for  myself,  I  heart- 
ily desire.  My  entire  store  of  thought  has  been  set  in 
motion  by  my  recent  conversations  with  you  ;  for  they 
related  to  a  subject  which,  for  several  years,  has  busily 
occupied  me.  On  much  about  which  I  could  not  obtain 
perfect  harmony  within  myself,  the  contemplation  of  your 
mind*  (for  thus  I  must  call  the  full  impression  of  your 
ideas  upon  me)  has  kindled  in  me  a  new  light.  I  needed 
the  object,  the  body,  to  many  speculative  ideas,  and  you 
have  put  me  on  the  track  of  it.  Your  observing  look, 
which  rests  so  calmly  and  clearly  on  all  things,  keeps  you 

*  Die  Anschauung  Ihres  Geistes. 


4 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


from  getting  into  the  by-roads,  into  which  speculation,  as 
well  as  an  arbitrary  imagination,  obeying  only  itself,  so 
easily  goes  astray.  In  your  correct  intuition  lies  all  that 
analysis  laboriously  seeks,  and  only  because  it  lies  in  you 
as  a  whole,  is  your  own  wealth  concealed  from  yourself ; 
for,  alas  !  we  only  know  that  which  we  can  take  to  pieces. 
Thence,  minds  like  yours  seldom  know  how  far  they  reach, 
and  what  little  cause  they  have  to  learn  from  philosophy, 
which  can  learn  only  from  them.  Philosophy  can  merely 
dismember  what  is  given  to  it ;  but  the  giving  is  not  the 
affair  of  the  Analyst,  but  of  Genius,  which,  under  the  con- 
cealed, but  secure,  influence  of  pure  Reason,  combines 
according  to  objective  laws. 

For  a  long  time  I  have  watched,  although  from  some 
distance,  the  procedure  of  your  mind,  and  ever  with 
renewed  wonder  observed  the  track  that  you  have  marked 
out  for  yourself.  You  seek  for  the  necessary  (the  abso- 
lute*) in  Nature  ;  but  you  seek  it  by  the  most  difficult 
route,  which  every  weaker  spirit  will  take  care  to  avoid. 
You  grasp  in  your  view  entire  nature,  in  order  to  obtain 
light  on  her  parts :  in  the  totality  of  her  manifestations 
you  search  for  the  key  to  lay  open  the  individual.  From 
simple  organization  you  ascend,  step  by  step,  to  the  more 
complex,  in  order  at  last  to  construct  out  of  the  materials  of 
the  whole  fabric  of  nature  the  most  complex  of  all — man. 
By  thus  creating  him,  as  it  were,  after  nature,  you  seek  to 
penetrate  to  the  mystery  of  his  structure.  A  great  and 
really  heroic  idea,  which  shows  how  perfectly  your  mind 
combines  in  a  beautiful  unity  the  rich  whole  of  its  concep- 
tions.   You  can  never  have  hoped  that  your  life  would 

*  Sie  suchen  das  Nothwendige  der  Natur. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


5 


suffice  to  complete  a  plan  like  tins,  but  to  have  struck  into 
such  a  path  is  worth  more  than  to  reach  the  end  of  any- 
other  ;  and  you  have  chosen,  like  Achilles  in  the  Iliad, 
between  Pythia  and  Immortality.  Had  you  been  born  a 
Greek,  or  even  only  an  Italian,  and  had  a  choice  Nature* 
and  an  idealising  Art  surrounded  you  from  your  cradle,  your 
path  would  have  been  infinitely  shortened.  Then  would 
you,  on  the  first  contemplation  of  things,  have  seized  the 
form  of  the  Absolute,  and  with  your  first  experience  would 
the  great  art  of  representation  have  developed  itself  in  you. 
But,  being  born  a  German,  and  your  Grecian  spirit  having 
been  cast  in  this  northern  creation,  there  was  left  to  you  no 
other  choice,  but  either  to  become  a  Northern  Artist,  or, 
by  the  help  of  the  powder  of  thought,  to  supply  to  your  ima- 
gination that  which  reality  withheld  from  it,  and  thus,  from 
within  outwardly  and  through  a  reasoning  process,  to  create 
as  a  Greek.  At  that  period  of  life  when  the  soul,  sur- 
rounded by  multifarious  forms,  constructs  from  the  outward 
world  its  own  inward  one,  you  had  taken  in  a  wild  and 
northern  nature.  Your  victorious  genius,  triumphing 
over  its  materials,  discovered  this  want  from  within,  and 
through  acquaintance  with  Grecian  nature,  was  assured  of 
it  from  without.  Thus  were  you  obliged  to  correct  (by  a 
model  which  your  creative  genius  shaped  for  itself),  the  old 
inferior  Nature  already  forced  upon  your  imagination. 
Now  this  can  only  be  efiected  according  to  leading  princi- 
ples. But  this  logical  direction  which  the  spirit  of  Reflec- 
tion is  obliged  to  take,  does  not  harmonize  with  the  (Esthetic 
through  which  only  can  it  create.    Hence,  you  had  one 

*  By  Nature  is  here  meant  the  external  world ;  all  that  makes  im- 
pressions from  without  upon  the  inward  faculties  of  the  mind. 


6 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


labor  more  ;  for,  as  you  first  passed  from  Perception  to  Ab- 
straction, you  were  obliged  now  to  retranslate  ideas  into  intui- 
tions, and  to  change  thoughts  into  feelings,  for  only  through 
the  latter  can  Genius  produce. 

Such  is  the  judgment  I  have  formed  of  the  procedure  of 
your  mind,  and  whether  or  no  it  is  just,  yourself  will 
know  best.  But  what  you  will  hardly  be  able  to  know 
(for  Genius  ever  remains  the  greatest  secret  to  itself)  is, 
the  beautiful  harmony  of  your  philosophic  Instinct  with 
the  pure  results  of  speculative  Reason.  At  first  view,  it 
seems  as  if  there  could  not  be  two  greater  opposites  than 
the  speculative  spirit,  which  deals  with  oneness,  and  the 
intuitive,  which  deals  with  manifoldness.  If,  however, 
the  one,  with  coy  and  clear  sense,  seeks  experience,  and 
the  other,  with  self-relying  active  thought,  the  law,  it 
cannot  fail  but  that  the  two  will  meet  half  way.  True, 
the  intuitive  spirit  has  only  to  do  with  individuals,  and  the 
speculative  with  species.  Yet,  if  the  intuitive  is  genial, 
and  consults  experience,  to  learn  the  nature  of  the  Abso- 
lute, the  individuals  it  produces  will  have  the  character  of 
the  species  ;  and  if  the  speculative  spirit  is  genial,  and 
loses  not  sight  of  experience  in  rising  above  it,  the  spe- 
cies it  produces  will  contain  the  possibility  of  individual 
life  and  be  constructed  with  the  internal  reference  to  real 
objects. 

But  I  find  that,  instead  of  a  letter,  I  am  writing  an  essay 
— pardon  it,  and  ascribe  it  to  the  lively  interest  with  which 
the  subject  has  filled  me  ;  and  should  you  not  in  this  mir- 
ror recognize  your  image,  I  beg  you,  do  not  on  that  account 
turn  away  from  it. 

The  little  work  of  Moritz,  which  Mr.  Humboldt  begs  to 
be  allowed  to  keep  a  few  days  longer,  I  have  read  with 


SCHILLER   AXD  GUETIIE. 


7 


much  interest,  and  am  indebted  to  it  for  some  important 
information.  It  is  a  real  enjoyment,  to  give  oneself  a 
clear  account  of  an  instinctive  proceeding,  which  may  so 
easily  lead  one  astray,  and  thus  to  set  feeling  right  with 
principles.  By  follov/ing  out  Moritz's  ideas,  we  observe 
by  degrees  a  beautiful  order  show  itself  in  the  anarchy  of 
the  language  ;  and  if,  in  so  doing,  we  are  led  to  discover 
the  wants  and  limits  of  our  language,  we  perceive  its 
strength  also,  and  learn  how  and  to  what  purpose  it  may 
be  used. 

The  work  of  Diderot,  particularly  the  first  part,  is  very 
entertaining,  and,  for  such  a  subject,  handled  with  a  very 
edifying  decency.  I  beg  to  be  permitted  to  keep  it  also 
some  days  longer. 

It  would  be  well  if  we  could  get  the  new  journal  under 
way  soon,  and  as  you  would  perhaps  like  to  open  the  first 
number  of  it,  I  take  the  liberty  of  asking  you  if  you  v/ould 
not  be  willing  to  let  your  novel*  appear  in  it  in  numbers  ? 
Whether,  however,  you  determine  to  do  so  or  not,  you  will 
do  me  a  great  favor  by  letting  me  read  it.  My  friends 
and  my  wife  beg  to  be  kindly  remembered  by  you,  and  I 
remain  with  high  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

Fr.  Schiller. 

V. 

For  my  birth-day,  which  falls  in  this  week,  no  more 
agreeable  present  could  have  come  to  me  than  your  letter, 
in  which,  with  a  friendly  hand,  you  give  the  sum  of  my 
existence,  and  through  your  sympathy,  encourage  me  to  a 
more  assiduous  and  active  use  of  my  pov/ers. 

Pure  enjoyment  and  real  benefit  can  only  be  reciprocal, 

*  Wilhslm  Mcistsr. 


8 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


and  it  will  give  me  pleasure  to  unfold  to  you  at  leisure, 
what  iny  intercourse  with  you  has  done  for  me, — how  I, 
too,  regard  it  as  making  an  epoch  in  my  existence, — and 
how  content  I  am  to  have  gone  on  my  way  without  par- 
ticular encouragement,  as  it  now  appears  as  if  we,  after  a 
so  unexpected  meeting,  are  to  proceed  forward  together. 
I  have  always  prized  the  honest  and  so  rare  earnestness 
that  is  visible  in  all  that  you  have  written  and  done,  and  I 
may  now  expect  to  be  made  acquainted  by  yourself  with 
the  progress  of  your  mind,  particularly  in  the  last  few 
years.  Shall  we  have  once  made  clear  to  each  other 
the  points  to  which  we  have  thus  far  attained,  we  shall 
then  be  the  better  able,  without  interruption,  to  work  on 
together. 

All  that  relates  to  me,  and  is  in  me,  I  will  gladly 
impart.  For,  as  I  feel  very  sensibly  that  my  under- 
taking far  exceeds  the  measure  of  the  faculties  of  one 
earthly  life,  I  would  wish  to  depose  much  with  you,  and 
thereby  not  only  give  it  endurance,  but  vitality. 

Of  how  great  profit  will  be  to  me  a  closer  intercourse 
with  you,  yourself  will  soon  perceive,  when,  on  a  near 
acquaintance,  you  discover  in  me  a  kind  of  obscurity  and 
holding  back,  which  I  cannot  entirely  master,  notwith- 
standing I  am  perfectly  conscious  of  it.  Like  phenomena 
are  often  found  in  our  nature,  to  whose  government  we 
unwillingly  yield,  when  she  is  not  too  tyrannical. 

I  hope  soon  to  pass  some  time  with  you,  and  then 
we  will  talk  over  much  together. 

Unluckily  I  had  sent  my  novel  to  Unger*  a  few  weeks 
before  your  invitation,  and-the  first  printed  sheets  are  al- 


*  A  bookaeller. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


9 


ready  in  my  hands.  More  than  once  the  thought  has 
occurred  to  me  lately  that  it  would  have  been  very  suitable 
for  the  Journal.  It  is  the  only  thing  that  I  now  have 
which  has  bulk,  and  is  a  kind  of  problematical  composition 
such  as  our  good  Germans  like. 

I  will  send  you  the  first  Book  as  soon  as  the  proof- 
sheets  are  together.  The  work  has  been  so  long  written, 
that  in  the  strictest  sense  T  am  only  the  publisher. 

For  the  rest,  if  there  be  among  my  projects  anything 
that  would  serve  the  purpose  you  mention,  we  could  easily 
agree  about  the  most  fitting  form  to  put  it  in,  and  there 
should  be  no  delay  about  the  execution. 

Farewell,  and  remember  me  in  your  circle. 

Ettersburg,  27th  August,  1794. 

Goethe. 

VI. 

The  accompanying  sheets  I  could  only  send  to  a  friend 
from  whom  I  can  hope  that  he  will  meet  me  half  way. 
In  reading  them  over  again,  I  seem  to  myself  like  the  boy 
who  undertook  to  drain  the  ocean  with  the  hollow  of  his 
hand.  I  will  take  the  liberty  of  sending  you  hereafter 
other  such  impromptus.  They  will  excite,  enliven,  and 
give  a  direction  to  our  conversation.  Farewell, 

Weimar,  30th  August,  1794. 

Goethe. 

VII. 

Jena,  31st  August,  1794. 

On  my  return  from  Weissenfels,  whither  I  had  been  to 
meet  my  friend  Körner,  from  Dresden,  I  received  your 
letter  of  the  27th,  the  contents  of  which  were  doubly  agree- 
able to  me  ;  for  1  perceive  from  it  that  in  the  view  I  took 

1* 


10 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


of  your  being  I  met  your  own  feelings,  and  that  the  candor 
with  which  I  spoke  what  I  felt  did  not  displease  you. 
Our  acquaintance  so  long  deferred,  but  which  now  awak- 
ens in  me  so  many  delightful  hopes,  is  to  me  another 
proof  how  much  better  it  often  is  to  let  chance  have  its 
own  way,  than  to  forestall  it  by  too  much  officiousness. 
However  strong  my  desire  has  always  been  to  enter  into 
a  closer  relation  with  you,  than  is  possible  between  the 
spirit  of  a  writer  and  his  most  attentive  reader,  yet  now  I 
perceive  clearly,  that  the  very  different  paths  in  which 
you  and  I  moved,  could  not  have  brought  us  together  with 
advantage  sooner  than  just  at  this  time.  But  now,  I  can 
hope  that  we  shall  travel  together  the  rest  of  our  way, 
and  with  the  greater  profit,  inasmuch  as  the  last  travellers 
who  join  company  on  a  long  journey,  have  always  the 
most  to  say  to  one  another. 

Do  not  look  for  any  great  store  of  ideas  in  me  :  this  is 
what  I  shall  find  in  you.  My  need  and  endeavor  is,  to 
make  much  out  of  little  ;  and  when,  on  a  closer  acquaint- 
ance, you  shall  discover  my  poverty  in  all  that  is  called 
acquired  knowledge,  you  will  perhaps  find  that  I  have 
sometimes  been  successful  in  doing  it.  Because  my  circle 
of  ideas  is  small,  I  can  the  more  rapidly  and  oftener  run 
through  it,  and  on  that  very  account  use  my  little  store 
with  more  effect,  and  produce  through  outward  form  the 
variety  which  is  wanting  in  materials.  You  strive  to  sim- 
plify your  great  world  of  ideas  ;  I  seek  variety  for  my 
little  possessions.  You  have  a  kingdom  to  govern  :  I 
only  a  tolerably  numerous  family  of  ideas  which  I  would 
very  gladly  enlarge  to  a  little  world. 

The  working  of  your  mind  is  intuitive  in  an  extraordi- 
nary degree,  and  all  your  thinking  powers  seem  to  have, 


SCHILLER   AXD  GOETHE. 


11 


as  it  were,  agreed  to  refer  to  your  imagination  as  their 
common  representative.  At  bottom,  this  is  the  highest 
that  a  man  can  do  for  himself,  if  he  can  succeed  in  gene- 
ralizing through  his  perceptions  and  in  reaching  principles 
through  his  feelings.  To  do  this  is  your  endeavor,  and  to 
what  a  degree  have  you  already  attained  this  end !  My 
understanding  works  more  symbolically,  and  thus  I  fioat, 
like  one  with  two  natures,  between  ideas  and  perceptions, 
between  the  technical  head  and  Genius.  This  it  is  which, 
particularly  in  my  early  years,  gave  me  sometimes  an 
awkward  appearance,  as  well  in  the  field  of  speculation  as 
in  poetry  ;  for  commonly  the  Poet  overtook  me  when  I 
ought  to  have  philosophized,  and  the  philosophic  spirit, 
when  I  wished  to  be  poetical.  Even  now,  it  often  hap- 
pens to  me,  that  imagination  intrudes  upon  my  abstrac- 
tions, and  cold  understanding  upon  my  poetical  moods. 
If  I  can  obtain  such  mastery  over  these  two  powers,  as  to 
be  able  in  my  freedom  to  assign  to  each  its  limits,  there  is 
yet  in  store  for  me  a  beautiful  lot ;  but,  alas  !  just  as  I  have 
begun  properly  to  know  and  use  my  moral  powers,  a  dis- 
ease threatens  to  undermine  my  physical.  I  can  scarcely 
hope  to  have  time  to  complete  a  great  and  general  mental 
revolution  in  myself,  but  I  will  do  what  I  can ;  and  when 
at  last  the  building  falls,  I  shall,  perhaps,  still  have 
snatched  from  the  ruin  what  is  worthy  to  be  preserved. 

You  wished  that  I  should  speak  of  myself,  and  I  have 
made  use  of  the  permission.  With  frankness  I  entrust  to 
you  these  confessions,  and  may  hope  that  you  will  receive 
them  with  cordiality. 

I  abstain  to-day  from  going  into  the  details  of  your 
view,  which  at  once  gives  to  our  communications  on  this 
subject  the  most  profitable  direction.    My  ownreoearches, 


12 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


entered  upon  by  a  different  route,  have  led  me  to  a  result 
very  similar  to  that  at  which  you  have  arrived,  and  in  the 
accompanying  papers  you  will  perhaps  find  ideas  which 
coincide  with  yours.  They  were  written  down  about  a 
year  and  a  half  ago,  and  as  well  on  this  account  as  from 
the  particular  occasion  of  them  (for  they  were  intended 
for  an  indulgent  friend)  may  claim  indulgence  for  the 
roughness  of  their  form.  Since  then  they  have  received 
in  me  a  better  foundation  and  a  greater  precision,  which 
will  entitle  them  to  approach  much  nearer  to  yours. 

That  Wilhelm  Meister  is  lost  to  our  Journal,  I  cannot 
sufficiently  regret.  Meanwhile  I  expect  from  your  fertile 
resources  and  your  friendly  zeal  tor  our  undertaking  an 
equivalent  for  this  loss,  whereby  then  the  friends  of  your 
genius  will  gain  doubly.  In  the  number  of  the  Thalia, 
which  I  send  herewith,  you  will  find  some  ideas  of  Kör- 
ner on  Declamation,  which  you  will  like.  All  with  us 
request  your  friendly  remembrance,  and  I  am  with  the 
warmest  regard,  yours, 

Schiller. 

VIII. 

#  The  manuscripts  you  sent  me,  as  well  as  the  fragment 
on  the  Sublime,!  have  read  with  much  pleasure,  and  am 
thereby  more  than  ever  convinced,  that  not  only  do  the 
same  subjects  interest  us,  but  that  for  the  most  part  we 
agree  in  the  manner  of  viewing  them.  I  see  that  on  all 
leading  points  we  are  of  one  mind  ;  and  as  to  differences 
in  tlie  mode  of  combining  and  in  expression,  why  these 
grow  out  of  the  richness  of  the  object  and  the  correspond- 
ing manifoldness  in  the  subjects.*    I  wäll  now  request  you 

*  Object  and  Stchject  refer  mostly,  in  German  criticism,  the  former 
to  the  matter  treated  of,  the  latter  to  the  person  treating  it. 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


13 


to  furnish  me  with  all  that  you  have  written  on  this  sub- 
ject, in  order  that  without  loss  of  time  we  may  bring  up 
the  past. 

And  here  I  have  a  proposal  to  make  to  you.  Next  week 
the  Court  goes  to  Eisenach,  and  for  a  fortnight  I  shall  be 
alone  and  independent,  as  I  have  not  a  prospect  of  being 
soon  again.  Will  you  not,  during  this  period,  visit  me, 
and  lodge  with  me  1  You  would  be  able  to  occupy  your- 
self in  quiet  with  any  kind  of  work.  At  convenient  hours 
we  should  talk  together,  see  such  friends  as  were  the  most 
congenial  to  us,  and  would  part  not  without  profit.  You 
should  live  entirely  after  your  own  fashion,  and  be  as  much 
as  possible  as  if  you  were  in  your  own  house.  In  this 
w^ay  I  should  be  enabled  to  show  you  what  is  most  valua- 
ble in  my  literary  store,  and  many  threads  of  connection 
would  be  joined  between  us.  After  the  fourteenth  you 
will  find  me  free  and  ready  to  receive  you. 

Until  then  I  will  reserve  much  that  I  have  to  say,  and 
in  the  mean  time  wish  you  all  happiness. 

Have  you  seen  Charts,  by  Ramdohr  1  With  all  the 
natural  and  artificial  organs  of  my  individual  being  I  have 
sought  to  lay  hold  of  the  book,  but  as  yet  have  not  found  a 
single  page  that  I  could  get  possession  of. 

Farewell,  and  greet  your  friends  from  me, 

Weimar,  4th  September,  1794. 

Goethe. 

IX. 

Jena,  7th  September,  1794. 

With  pleasure  I  accept  your  kind  invitation,  but  with  the 
earnest  request,  that  in  no  particular  of  your  household 
arrangements  will  you  make  any  change  with  reference  to 
me  :  for,  alas  !  my  spasms  oblige  me  commonly  to  devote 


14 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


the  whole  morning  to  sleep,  because  they  let  me  have  no 
rest  at  night,  and,  indeed,  I  am  never  well  enough  to  be 
able  in  a  whole  day  to  count  upon  a  fixed  hour.  I  must, 
therefore,  beg,  that  I  may  be  in  your  house  as  one  who  is 
not  to  be  cared  for,  so  that  by  being  thus  left  to  myself,  I 
may  escape  the  embarrassment  of  making  any  one  else 
dependant  upon  my  state  of  health.  The  arrangement 
which  would  make  any  other  man  comfortable,  is  my  worst 
enemy,  for  the  being  obliged  to  do  a  certain  thing  at  a 
particular  time  is  sure  to  render  me  unfit  to  do  it. 

Pardon  these  preliminaries,  which  I  must  first  settle,  in 
order  to  make  my  staying  with  you  even  possible.  I  will 
request  the  poor  liberty  of  being  permitted  to  be  an  invalid 
in  your  house. 

I  was  just  about  to  propose  to  you  to  pay  me  a  visit 
when  I  received  your  invitation.  My  wife  has  gone  with 
our  child  to  spend  three  weeks  at  Rudolstadt,  to  avoid  the 
small  pox  with  which  Mr.  Humboldt  has  had  his  children 
inoculated.  I  am  quite  alone,  and  could  lodge  you  very 
comfortably.  Except  Humboldt,  I  seldom  see  any  one, 
and  for  a  long  time  no  metaphysics  have  crossed  my 
^  threshold. 

My  proceeding  in  regard  to  Ramdohr's  Charis  was 
singular.  On  my  first  looking  through  it,  I  was  repelled 
by  his  strange  style  and  horrible  philosophy,  and  I  sent 
him  heels  over  head  back  to  the  bookseller.  A  short  time 
afterwards  on  reading  some  passages  of  his  book  on  the 
Netherland  schools,  extracted  in  a  scientific  journal,  I  took 
to  him  more  kindly,  and  read  his  Charis  again,  and  not 
without  profit.  His  general  views  on  sensibility,  taste, 
and  beauty,  are  most  unsatisfactory  ;  but  the  practical 
portion  of  his  book,  where  he  speaks  of  the  characteristics 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


15 


of  the  different  arts  and  assigns  to  each  its  sphere  and 
boundaries,  I  have  found  very  useful.  You  see  here  that 
he  is  in  his  element,  and  that  from  having  lived  long  in  the 
midst  of  works  of  Art,  he  has  acquired  a  more  than  com- 
mon skill  in  judging  of  them.  In  this  department  speaks 
the  man  of  information,  who,  if  he  has  not  a  paramount 
voice,  has,  at  least,  a  concurrent  one.  But  here  he  cannot 
have  for  you  the  value  he  necessarily  has  for  me,  because 
you  already  possess  the  experience  upon  which  his  merit 
rests,  and  you  therefore  find  nothing  new  in  him.  In  that 
which  you  seek  he  is  particularly  faulty,  and  that  wherein 
he  is  successful  you  do  not  need.  I  shall  be  surprised  if 
the  Kanteans  let  him  pass  quietly,  and  if  the  opponents  of 
this  philosophy  do  not  endeavor  to  strengthen  their  side 
through  him. 

As  you  have  read  the  fragment  on  the  Sublime,  I  here- 
with send  you  the  beginning,  in  which  you  w^ll  perhaps 
find  a  few  ideas  that  decide  something  as  to  the  aesthetic 
expression  of  passion.  Several  earlier  essays  by  me  on 
aesthetic  subjects  are  not  sufficiently  satisfactory  to  myself 
for  me  to  lay  them  before  you,  and  some  later  ones  that 
are  yet  unprinted  I  will  bring  with  me.  Perhaps  you 
would  like  to  see  a  review  by  me  of  Matthison's  Poems  in 
the  General  Literary  Gazette,  which  will  be  published  this 
week.  On  account  of  the  anarchy  which  still  continues  in 
poetical  criticism,  and  the  entire  absence  of  objective  laws 
of  taste,  the  critic  always  finds  himself  embarrassed,  when 
he  wishes  to  support  his  assertions  with  reasons  ;  for  there 
are  no  established  laws  to  which  he  can  appeal.  If  he 
wishes  to  deal  fairly,  he  must  either  be  silent  altogether, 
or  he  must  (and  that  is  not  always  agreeable)  be  both 
legislator  and  judge.    In  this  review  I  have  adopted  the 


16 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


latter  course,  and  with  what  right  or  success,  I  should 
prefer  to  hear  from  you. 

I  have  this  moment  received  the  review  and  send  it. 

Fr.  Schiller. 

X. 

Take  my  thanks  for  your  consent  to  come.  You  will 
have  perfect  liberty  to  live  after  your  own  manner.  Be 
good  enough  to  advise  me  of  the  day  you  will  come,  so  that 
I  may  be  prepared  for  you. 

Perhaps  Mr.  Humboldt  will  pay  us  a  visit :  perhaps  I 
shall  return  with  you.  But  all  this  we  will  leave  to  the 
genius  of  the  day.    If  you  have  Charis,  bring  it  with  you. 

Some  beautiful  landscapes,  that  have  just  arrived  from 
Naples,  will  aid  us  in  our  conversations  on  this  subject. 

Farewell,  and  commend  me  to  your  friends. 

Weimar,  September  10,  1794. 

Goethe. 

I  have  just  received  some  copies  of  the  English  Iphi- 
genia,*  and  send  you  one. 

XI. 

Jen- A,  12ih  September,  1794. 

You  have  left  it  to  me  to  fix  a  day  after  the  14th.  With 
your  permission  then,  I  shall  be  with  you  on  Sunday  after- 
noon, as  I  wish  to  lose  as  little  as  possible  of  the  pleasure 
you  have  in  store  for  me.  Mr.  Humboldt,  who  is  much 
gratified  by  your  invitation,  will  accompany  me,  in  order 
to  spend  some  hours  with  you. 


*  One  of  Goethe's  dramas. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


17 


Ramdohr  was  here  a  few  days  ago,  and  probably  called 
on  you  too.  He  tells  me  that  he  is  now  writing  a  book  on 
Love,  in  which  he  will  prove  that  pure  love  never  has 
existed  anywhere  but  among  the  Greeks.  He  goes  pretty 
deep  for  his  ideas  on  Beauty,  for  he  calls  to  his  aid  the 
sexual  feeling. 

The  English  Iphigenia  gave  me  much  pleasure.  As  far 
as  I  can  judge,  this  foreign  dress  fits  it  very  well,  and  one 
is  forcibly  reminded  of  the  affinity  between  the  two  lan- 
guages. 

Frederick  Jacobi  joins  us  in  the  Horm*  which  will  be 
a  very  acceptable  enlargement  of  our  circle.  He  is  to  me 
a  very  interesting  man,  although  I  must  acknowledge  that 
I  don't  take  to  his  works. 

Charis  cannot  be  procured  here  anywhere,  but  I  will 
bring  with  me  a  treatise  of  Maimon  on  the  Beautiful,  which 
is  worth  reading. 

My  wife  charges  me  with  many  friendly  assurances  for 
you.  I  am  about  to  send  her  the  English  Iphigenia,  which 
will  give  her  much  pleasure. 

Schiller. 

XII. 

Jena,  29th  September,  1794. 

I  AM  back  here  again,  but  my  mind  is  still  in  Weimar. 
It  will  take  me  some  time  to  unfold  all  the  ideas  which  you 
have  set  in  motion  in  me  ;  but  no  one  of  them  I  hope  will 
be  lost.  It  was  my  purpose  to  devote  these  last  fourteen 
days  to  the  imbibing  of  as  much  from  you  as  my  recep- 
tivity would  permit :  time  will  now  show,  whether  this 
seed  will  come  up  in  me. 


*  The  Journal  about  to  be  established. 


18 


CORRESPONDEXCE  BETWEEN 


On  my  return,  I  found  a  letter  from  our  publisher,  who 
is  full  of  zeal  and  resoluteness  to  begin  the  great  work 
soon.  I  had  purposely  represented  to  him  once  more  all 
the  difficulties  and  all  the  possible  dangers  of  this  under- 
taking, in  order  to  give  him  the  opportunity  of  taking  the 
step  with  the  greatest  deliberation.  But  after  weighing 
all  circumstances,  ho  thinks  that  no  undertaking  could  be 
more  promising :  and  he  has  made  a  precise  estimate  of 
his  resources.  We  can  count  upon  his  untiring  activity 
in  circulating  the  Journal,  as  well  as  on  his  punctuality  in 
paying. 

He  expresses  the  wish,  that  in  our  committee  we  would 
give  a  consulting  voice  to  his  partner,  a  young  man  of 
education.  I  cannot  take  it  amiss  of  him  that  he  desires 
to  have  a  good  friend  in  the  body  which  is  to  have  a  hold 
on  his  purse-strings.  In  addition  to  this,  the  young  man, 
whose  name  is  Zahn,  belongs  to  the  Commercial  Company 
at  Calv.  I  think,  therefore,  that  we  shall  do  well  to  inter- 
est him  as  much  as  possible  in  our  undertaking,  and  that  he 
may  be  allowed  a  consulting  voice  in  our  committee.  As 
this  is  an  affair  that  belongs  to  our  official  acts,  I  request 
that  you  will  sign  the  enclosed  paper,  if  you  approve 
of  its  contents. 

As  I  wish  to  write  to  Mr.  Arends  in  a  few  days,  [  beg 
you  to  be  good  enough  to  give  me  his  address.  You 
spoke  recently  of  engaging  Mr.  Hirt,  in  Rome,  to  keep 
you  informed  of  what  is  doing  in  the  Arts  in  Italy.  This 
would  certainly  be  very  useful,  and  I  hope  you  will  not 
omit  it. 

The  air  is  so  oppressive  to-day,  that  I  am  obliged  to 
limit  myself  to  editorial  matters.  I  learn  that  Ramdohr 
has  complained  here  of  your  reception  of  him  in  Dresden. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


19 


He  is  here  so  esteemed  as  a  connoisseur,  tliatK.  took  him 
to  the  joiner's  to  have  the  benefit  of  his  judgment  about  a 
very  common  bureau  he  is  having  made. 

Schiller. 

XIII. 

That  the  editors  of  the  Horen  receive  Mr.  Zahn  of 
Tübingen,  into  their  association,  and  allow  him  a  consult- 
ative voice  in  the  affairs  which  regard  this  monthly  jour- 
nal, seems  to  me  perfectly  suitable  to  the  circumstances. 
It  is  to  be  understood,  that  this  connection  lasts  only  so 
long  as  Mr.  Cotta  is  the  publisher. 

Weimar,  1st  October,  1794. 

Goethe. 

XIV. 

We  know  now,  my  excellent  friend,  from  our  fort- 
night's conference,  that  as  to  principles  we  agree,  and 
that  the  circles  of  our  feelings,  thoughts,  and  activity, 
partly  coincide,  partly  touch  ;  from  this,  much  good  will 
follow  to  both.  For  the  Horen,  I  have  continued  to  think, 
and  begun  to  work  ;  I  am  planning  vehicles  and  masks, 
through  which  and  under  which  we  may  administer  a 
variety  of  things  to  the  public.  I  have  no  objection  to 
make  against  the  admission  of  Mr.  Zahn ;  but  as  I  would 
wish  that  you  alone  sign  all  documents,  I  give  my  assent 
on  a  separate  sheet. 

Farewell,  and  do  not  entirely  forget  my  dietetic  advice. 
I  hope  soon  to  be  able  to  send  you  something,  and  expect 
that  you  will  suggest  to  me  subjects  to  write  about. 

Weimar,  1st  October,  1794. 

Goethe. 


20 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


Mr.  Arends  will  not  fail  to  get  your  letter  if  you  put 
architect  in  the  address  :  he  is  well  known  in  Hamburg. 

I  shall  not  forget  Hirt  and  Albrecht.  Thank  Mr.  Hum- 
boldt for  the  review  of  Woldemar  ;  I  have  just  been  read- 
ing it  with  the  greatest  interest. 

XV. 

As  Venice  Preserved  will  not  be  played  next  Saturday, 
and  not  till  Tuesday,  and  is  not  either  of  importance 
enough  to  bring  you  hither,  I  propose  to  you,  that  you  and 
your  dear  wife  come  over  on  Saturday  the  18th,  when  we 
shall  give  Don  Carlos.  Although  you  would  not  be  much 
edified  by  the  representation,  it  would  be  an  excellent 
opportunity  for  testing  the  talents  of  our  actors  for  the 
object  we  spoke  of.    Farewell,  and  think  of  me. 

Weimar,  8th  October,  1794. 

Goethe. 

XVI. 

Jena,  8th  October,  1794. 

Forgive  the  long  delay  of  this  letter,  which  is  the  open- 
ing of  our  correspondence.*  Several  pieces  of  urgent 
business  for  the  Literary  Gazette  and  the  Thalia,  have 
obliged  me  to  defer  it,  against  my  wish  and  will. 

It  will  now  depend  on  you,  whether  the  path  into  which 
I  here  strike,  shall  be  pursued  further.  As,  in  the  sequel, 
reference  will  probably  be  so  often  made  to  this  point,  I 

*  From  this  passage,  and  a  similar  one  in  the  next  letter  of 
Goethe,  it  appears  that  this  letter  contained  another  in  the  form  of 
an  essay  on  the  Beautiful,  to  which  Goethe  replied.  These  letters 
are  not  published  in  their  Correspondence. 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


21 


have  thought  it  necessary  that  at  the  outset  we  should  dis- 
tinctly unfold  our  ideas  on  the  nature  of  the  Beautiful. 
#  *  *  *  * 

I  am  very  anxious  to  see  your  novel  which  you  were  to 
have  given  me.  Schutz  has  proposed  to  me  to  review 
this  part  of  it,  and  I  am  well  inclined  to  gratify  him,  par- 
ticularly as  I  do  not  wish  to  see  it  go  into  other  hands. 

The  Humboldts  and  my  wife  send  you  friendly  greet- 
ings, and  I  am  near  to  you  through  all  by  which  I  feel  and 
think. 

Schiller. 

XVII. 

You  would  probably  not  have  been  dissatisfied  with  the 
representation  of  Don  Carlos,  if  we  had  had  the  pleasure 
of  seeing  you  here.  Do  not  let  the  Knights  of  Malta*  out 
of  your  mind. 

At  the  end  of  this  week  I  shall  send  you  the  Elegies  ; 
they  are  partly  copied,  only  some  refractory  lines  here  and 
there  detain  me. 

You  will  also  receive  some  sheets  in  answer  to  your 
first  letter  :  I  have  written  them  already,  but  must  rewrite 
some  parts.  It  seems  to  me  quite  strange  to  find  myself 
theorizing. 

Remember  me  in  your  circle.  Be  kind  enough  to  give 
a  quarter  of  an  hour  to  Mr.  Gerning  who  will  be  the 
bearer  of  this. 

Weimar,  16th  October,  1794. 

Goethe. 


A  drama  that  Schiller  was  planning. 


22 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


XVIII. 

Jena,  17th  October,  1794. 

If  not  prevented  by  my  health,  which  the  bad  weather 
has  again  deranged,  I  will  go  over  to-morrow,  with  my 
wife,  to  Weimar.    But  do  not  expect  me  with  certainty. 

I  am  now  putting  the  last  hand  to  my  letters  to  the  Pr. 
of  Aug.,  because  1  design  the  beginning  of  them  for  the 
first  number  of  the  Haren.  I  hope  to  be  able  to  send  them 
to  you  next  Tuesday.  My  first  work  will  then  be  to  con- 
tinue the  subject  we  have  lately  taken  in  hand.  We  are 
looking  forward  to  the  arrival  of  the  Elegies  and  the  Epis- 
tle with  great  eagerness. 

All  here  greet  you  kindly. 

Schiller. 

XIX. 

Jena,  20th  October,  1794. 

Here  then  I  make  the  dance  of  the  Horcn  begin,  and 
send  you  the  portion  of  my  letter  to  the  Pr.  that  is  in- 
tended for  the  first  number.  Doubtless  your  and  my  con- 
tributions will  fill  the  whole  number,  all  to  a  few  sheets. 
Perhaps  we  can  get  from  Herder  a  short  piece  for  the 
first  number  :  this  I  should  be  much  pleased  at.  For  the 
rest,  although  there  is  no  variety  of  authors,  there  is 
variety  of  matter  in  the  first  number,  as  you  will  perceive. 

My  debut  in  the  Horen  is  at  least  no  attempt  to  win  the 
public  by  flattering.  I  could  not,  however,  handle  it  more 
gently,  and  I  am  sure  that  in  this  particular  you  will  be 
of  my  mind.  I  hope  that  yon  may  be  so  too  in  the 
others,  for  I  must  acknowledge,  that  my  real,  earnest 
opinion,  is  expressed  in  these  letters.  I  have  never  be- 
fore written  a  line  about  political  bemoaninga,  and  I  have 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


23 


said  what  I  have  in  these  letters,  merely  that  I  may  never 
hereafter  say  anything  more  of  them  ;  but  I  believe  that 
the  confession  I  make  therein  is  not  entirely  superfluous. 
DifTerent  as  are  the  instruments  with  which  you  and  I 
take  hold  of  the  world,  and  different  as  are  the  offensive 
and  defensive  weapons  that  we  carry,  I  yet  think  that  we 
aim  at  one  and  the  same  point.  You  will  find  in  these 
letters  a  portrait  of  yourself,  under  which  I  should  have 
liked  to  write  your  name,  if  I  did  not  hate  to  forestall  the 
feelings  of  thinking  readers.  None,  whose  judgment  can 
be  of  value  to  you,  will  mistake  it,  for  I  know  that  I  have 
seized  it  well  and  drawn  it  faithfully. 

I  should  like,  if  you  have  time,  that  you  read  the  manu- 
script soon,  and  then  send  it  to  Herder,  whom  I  will 
advise  thereof;  for,  according  to  our  rules,  it  must  pass 
through  several  hands  before  it  can  be  despatched,  and 
we  wish  soon  to  make  arrangements  for  the  printing  of 
the  Horen. 

In  regard  to  the  Almanac  of  the  Muses,  of  which  I 
lately  spoke  to  you  in  W.,  I  have  made  a  formal  contract 
with  the  Jew  bookseller,  and  it  will  appear  next  Michael- 
mas. On  your  goftdness,  which  will  not  leave  me  in  the 
lurch,  I  count  much  in  this.  In  a  business  point  of  view, 
this  undertaking  will  be  a  trifling  increase  of  load,  but  for 
my  pecuniary  aims  on  that  very  account  the  happier, 
because  I  can  continue  it  in  weak  health,  and  thereby 
secure  my  independence. 

With  much  impatience  I  anticipate  what  your  last  letter 
promises  me.    We  all  beg  to  be  remembered  by  you. 

Schiller. 


24 


CORRESPOXDEXCE  BETWEEN 


XX. 

With  great  pleasure,  I  have  read  the  manuscript  you 
sent  me  :  I  took  it  in  at  one  draught.  As  a  deUcious 
drink,  suitable  to  our  nature,  slips  down  the  throat  grate- 
fully, and  at  once,  while  only  on  the  tongue,  gives 
evidence  of  its  wholesome  operation  by  the  fine  tone  it 
imparts  to  the  nervous  system,  thus  w^ere  these  letters 
agreeable  and  salutary  to  me.  And  how  could  it  be  other- 
wise, when  I  found  that  which  I  for  a  long  time  have 
thought  true,  what  I  either  praised  or  wished  to  praise, 
set  forth  in  so  clear  and  noble  a  manner.  Meyer,  too,  is 
delighted  with  it ;  and  his  keen  impartial  perception  was 
a  strong  confirmation  to  me.  This  agreeable  mood  was 
near  being  ruffled  by  the  accompanying  note  from  Herder, 
who  would  impute  onesidedness  to  us  who  enjoy  this 
mode  of  exposition.  But  as  one  must  not  be  too  exacting 
in  regard  to  this  world's  phenomena,  and  as  there  is  ever 
a  consolation  when  one  errs  in  the  company  of  tried  men, 
while  laboring  for  the  profit  and  not  the  injury  of  oneself 
and  one's  contemporaries,  let  us  cheerfully  and  undiverted 
thus  continue  to  live  and  labor,  and  figure  to  ourselves  our 
being  and  aims  as  a  whole,  that  we  may  give  as  nearly  as 
possible  completeness  to  our  patchwork.  The  letters  I 
will  retain  for  a  few  days,  in  order  to  enjoy  with  Meyer 
the  pleasure  of  reading  them  again. 

Here  are  the  Elegies.  I  wish  you  not  to  let  them  out  of 
your  hands,  but  read  them  to  those  who  have  to  judge  of 
their  admissibility.  After  which  I  beg  to  have  them  back 
to  revise  and  perhaps  retouch.  If  you  find  anything  to 
remark  upon,  pray  point  it  out. 

The  Epistle  is  nearly  copied,  and  will  follow  soon,  with 
several  trifles  ;  then  I  must  make  a  stop,  for  the  third 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


25 


book  of  the  Novel  requires  my  attention.  I  have  not  yet 
the  proof-sheets  of  the  first ;  as  soon  as  they  arrive,  you 
shall  have  them. 

As  to  the  Almanac,*  I  will  propose  to  you  to  insert  in, 
or  add  to  it,  a  little  book  of  Epigrams.  Singly  they  have 
no  value  ;  but  we  could,  out  of  some  hundreds  (many  of 
which  are  not  presentable),  select  a  number  which  have  a 
bearing  one  on  the  other,  and  form  a  whole.  You  shall 
see  the  sportive  brood  all  together,  in  their  nest,  the  next 
time  we  meet. 

Farewell,  and  remember  me  in  your  circle. 

Weimar,  26th  October,  1794. 

Goethe. 

Write  me  what  you  wish  from  me  next  for  the  Hörem, 
and  when  you  want  it.  The  second  epistle  will  be  writ- 
ten in  the  first  favorable  mood. 

XXI. 

Jena,  28th  October,  1794. 

That  you  agree  with  me  in  my  ideas,  and  are  satisfied 
with  the  manner  of  setting  them  forth,  delights  me  not  a 
little,  and  on  the  route  I  have  entered  will  serve  me  as 
most  needful  encouragement.  True,  things  that  are  ex- 
pounded by  pure  reason,  or  at  any  rate  profess  to  be  so, 
stand  firmly  enough  on  internal  and  objective  grounds, 
and  carry  within  themselves  the  criterion  of  truth  ;  but  as 
yet  there  is  no  such  philosophy,  and  mine  is  far  distant 
from  it.  After  all,  the  matter  rests  at  last  principally  on 
the  testimony  of  individual  assertion,  and  needs  therefore 
a  subjective  sanction,  which  only  the  concurrence  of 
unprejudiced  minds  can  bestow.    Meyer's  opinion  is  here 

*  The  German  annuals  are  so  called. 
2 


26 


CORRESrOXDEN'CK  BETWEEN' 


significant  and  invaluable  to  me,  and  consoles  me  for  the 
opposition  of  Herder,  who  it  seems  can  never  forgive  me 
my  Kantean  belief.  Nor  do  I  expect  from  the  opponents 
of  the  new  Philosophy  the  toleration  that  is  commonly 
extended  to  any  system  of  which  no  better  opinion  is 
entertained  ;  for  the  Kantean  Philosophy  itself  exercises 
none  in  material  points,  and  has  by  far  too  stern  a  charac- 
ter, for  any  compromise  with  it  to  be  possible.  But  this 
does  it  honor  in  my  eyes,  for  it  shows  that  it  will  not 
permit  arbitrary  hypothesis.  Nor,  therefore,  is  such  a 
philosophy  to  be  dismissed  with  a  shaking  of  the  head. 
In  the  open,  clear,  accessible  field  of  inquiry,  it  builds  up 
its  system,  never  seeks  the  shade,  and  makes  no  reser- 
vation of  private  feeling  ;  but,  as  it  treats  its  neighbors, 
will  it  be  treated  by  them,  and  is  to  be  pardoned  if  it 
respects  nothing  but  arguments.  I  am  not  at  all  alarmed 
by  thinking,  that  the  law  of  change,  before  which  no 
human  nor  divine  work  finds  favor,  will  overthrow  the 
form  of  this  Philosophy  as  well  as  every  other :  but  this 
fate  its  foundations  will  not  have  to  fear  ;  for,  since  the 
human  race  was,  it  has  been  silently  acknowledged  and  in 
the  general  conformed  to,  and  this  will  continue  so  long 
as  there  is  reason. 

With  the  philosophy  of  our  friend  Fichte,  the  case  is 
quite  different.  Already  are  sturdy  opponents  stirring  in 
his  own  community,  who  will  shortly  proclaim  that  it  all 
resolves  itself  into  a  subjective  Spinozism.  He  has  in- 
duced one  of  his  old  academic  friends,  one  Weisshuhn,  to 
remove  hither,  probably  with  the  design  of  extending 
through  him  his  own  empire.  Weisshuhn,  however,  who, 
from  all  I  hear  of  him,  has  a  capital  philosophic  head, 
thinks  that  he  has  already  made  a  hole  in  his  system,  and 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


27 


will  write  against  him.  According  to  oral  utterances  of 
Fichte,  for  nothing  has  been  said  of  this  yet  in  his  book, 
the  /  is  creative  also  through  its  ideas,  and  all  reality  is 
only  in  the  /.  To  him,  the  world  is  only  a  ball  which 
the  /  has  thrown  forth,  and  which  it  again  catches  in  the 
act  of  reflexion ! !  Thus  'tis  said  he  has  really  declared 
his  godhead,  as  we  lately  expected. 

We  are  all  very  thankful  to  you  for  the  Elegies.  There 
is  in  them  a  warmth,  a  tenderness,  and  a  hearty,  genuine 
poetic  spirit  that  does  one  good  amidst  the  productions  of 
the  present  poetic  world.  They  are  a  spiritual  manifes- 
tation of  the  true  poetic  genius.  Several  little  traits  I 
have  been  disappointed  in  not  finding,  but  I  understand 
how  you  were  obliged  to  sacrifice.  I  am  in  doubt  about 
a  few  passages,  which  I  will*  mark  when  I  send  them 
back. 

As  you  call  on  me  to  say  what  more  I  desire  from  you 
for  the  first  numbers,  I  will  remind  you  of  your  idea  to 
work  up  the  story  of  the  honest  advocate  from  Boccaccio. 
I  prefer  at  all  times  representation  to  investigation,  and 
here  the  more,  because  in  the  three  first  numbers  of  the 
Horen  we  are  obliged  to  philosophize  somewhat  too  much, 
and  there  is  a  deficiency  in  poetic  pieces.  Were  it  not 
for  this,  I  would  call  to  your  mind  the  treatise  on  land- 
scape painting.  According  to  the  present  arrangements, 
it  will  be  necessary  to  despatch  the  third  number  of  the 
Horen  by  the  beginning  of  January.  If  now,  your  elegies 
and  the  'first  epistle  appear  in  the  first  number,  the  second 
epistle  and  what  else  you  may  send  this  week,  in  the 
second,  and  in  the  third  another  epistle  and  your  story 
from  Boccaccio,  each  of  these  numbers  will  be  sure  of  its 
value. 


2 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


Your  kind  offer  respecting  the  epigrams  is  most  advan- 
tageous for  the  Almanac.  We  will  confer  about  the 
arrangement  of  them.  Perhaps  it  may  be  possible  to 
make  several  sets  of  them,  each  set  to  be  independent  of 
the  others. 

I  rejoice  to  hear  that  Professor  Meyer  is  again  in 
Weimar,  and  I  beg  that  you  will  make  us  acquainted  very 
soon.  Perhaps  he  will  consent  to  make  an  excursion 
hither,  and,  in  order  that  this  may  not  be  entirely  fruitless 
for  the  artist,  I  have  a  bust  by  a  German  sculptor  to  show 
him,  which,  I  think  I  may  venture  to  say,  need  not  fear 
the  eye  of  the  genuine  connoisseur.  Perhaps  he  will  con- 
sent to  furnish  something  this  winter  for  the  Horen. 

I  shall  certainly  set  to  work  at  the  Maltese  Knights,  as 
soon  as  I  shall  have  finished  a  little  essay  on  the  Naive, 
and  my  Letters,  of  which  you  have  only  read  the  third 
part :  but  this  will  take  up  the  rest  of  the  present  year. 
For  the  birthday  of  the  Duchess  I  cannot  therefore  pro- 
mise it,  but  think  that  I  shall  have  it  ready  by  the  end  of 
the  winter.  I  speak  now  as  if  I  were  a  healthy  active 
man. 

Keep  us  in  your  friendly  remembrance  :  you  live  in 
ours. 

Schiller. 

XXII. 

Herewith  I  send  you  back  your  Letters  with  thanks. 
Having  read  them  first  as  a  contemplative  man,  and  there- 
in found  much,  I  may  almost  say  perfect  harmony  with 
my  own  mode  of  thinking,  I  read  them  a  second  time 
with  a  practical  view,  and  observed  narrowly,  whether  I 
discovered  anything  that  might  mislead  me  as  an  active 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


29 


man ;  but  there  also  I  found  myself  only  strengthened  and 
forwarded :  let  us  therefore  with  frank  confidence  rejoice 
in  this  harmony. 

Here  you  have  my  first  epistle,  with  some  trifles.  I 
am  at  work  on  the  second.  The  tale  shall  be  ready  by 
the  end  of  the  year,  and  I  hope  a  third  epistle. 

The  accompanying  letter  from  Maimon,  with  the  trea- 
tise, will  interest  you.  Don't  let  it  go  out  of  your  hands. 
Perhaps  I  shall  visit  you  soon  with  Meyer.  Farewell. 

Weimar,  28th  October,  1794. 

Goethe. 

XXIII. 

To-morrow,  by  ten  o'clock,  I  hope  to  arrive  at  Jena 
with  Meyer,  and  to  pass  some  pleasant  days  in  your  neigh- 
borhood.   I  hope  I  shall  find  you  well. 

Weimar,  1st  November,  1794. 

Goethe. 

XXIV. 

Jena,  16th  November,  1794. 

The  unfriendly  weather,  which  shuts  up  all  organs  of 
sensation,  has,  during  the  past  week,  unfitted  me  for  all 
that  can  be  called  life,  and  as  I  come  to  myself  out  of  this 
mental  slumber,  I  feel  as  if  I  had  to  find  you  again  after  a 
long  interval.  I  long  for  some  friendly  trace  of  you.  In 
order  that  there  may  be  something  with  you  that  shall 
occasionally  make  me  present  to  you,  I  beg  you  to 
grant  the  accompanying  portraits  place  in  your  house,  any 
one  you  choose,  except  that  in  which  you  have  buried  the 
 portrait. 

As  you  request,  I  send  back  the  Elegies  together  with 
the  Stolbergs,  with  my  best  thanks.   The  first  manuscript 


30 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


of  the  Horen  went  off  the  day  before  yesterday  to  the 
bookseller.  I  have  written  to  him  that  he  may  expect 
the  remainder  of  the  first  number  in  a  fortnight. 

The  comedy,  The  Widow,  which  you  recently  too^ 
with  you,  I  beg  you  to  send  back  for  a  fortnight.  It  is  to 
be  printed  in  the  Thalia,  with  which  it  will  be  returned 
to  you,  if  you  desire  to  make  use  of  it. 

I  have  anxiously  expected  a  manuscript  from  Meyer 
this  week.    Will  you  recall  me  to  his  memory. 

Mr.  Humboldt  will  commence  his  journey  to  Frankfort 
next  Saturday. 

Schiller. 

XXV. 

I  SEND  you  the  manuscript,  and  hope  that  I  have  hit  the 
right  quantity  and  the  proper  tone.  Pray  return  it  to  me 
soon,  because  some  corrections  are  necessary  here  and 
there  in  order  to  give  certain  passages  more  light.  If  I 
can  get  the  second  epistle  and  the  first  tale  ready  for  the 
second  number,  we  will  let  them  come  next,  and  reserve 
the  Elegies  for  the  third ;  if  not,  these  must  go  first.  I 
take  great  pleasure  in  these  short  tales,  after  such  a  bur- 
den as  a  pseudo-epic  like  the  Novel*  lays  on  one. 

Unger  sends  me  the  end  of  the  first  Book,  and  forgets 
the  middle.  As  soon  as  the  missing  six  sheets  arrive,  I 
will  send  this  Prologue. 

Mr.  Humboldt  came  lately  to  one  of  our  aesthetic-critical 
meetings  :  I  don't  know  how  he  liked  it. 

I  am  anxious  to  hear  how  you  are  getting  on  with  your 
labors  :  still  more  to  read  something  you  have  completed. 


*•  Wilhelm  Meister. 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


31 


Of  course  you  receive  the  proof-sheets  of  the  Monthly- 
Journal,*  in  order  that  we  may  have  a  sight  of  its  physi- 
ognomy sooner  than  the  public. 

Farewell.  I  have  a  mass  of  things  I  should  like  to  talk 
over  with  you. 

Weimar,  November  27th,  1794. 

Goethe. 

XXVI. 

Jena,  29th  November,  1794. 

You  have  surprised  me  most  agreeably  with  the  unex- 
pected quickness  with  which  you  have  furnished  the  In- 
troduction to  your  tales,  and  I  am  doubly  thankful  to  you 
for  it.  According  to  my  judgment,  the  whole  is  most 
properly  introduced,  and  particularly  is  the  contested 
point  very  happily  cleared  up.  Only  it  is  a  pity  that  the 
reader  at  first  sight  sees  so  little,  and  thence  is  not  in  a 
situation  to  form  a  judgment  of  the  bearing  of  what  is  said 
upon  the  whole.  It  would,  therefore,  have  been  desirable 
that  the  first  tale  could  have  been  given  along  with  the 
introduction.  But  I  would  not  like  to  be  unreasonable  in 
my  wishes,  and  cause  you  to  regard  your  participation  in 
the  journal  as  a  burden.  I  therefore  suppress  this  wish, 
and  merely  assure  you,  that  if  you  can  gratify  it  without 
inconvenience  to  yourself,  you  will  confer  on  me  a  great 
favor. 

According  to  the  estimate  I  have  made  (and  I  have 
counted  several  pages  by  the  words),  the  manuscript  can- 
not make  more  than  two  sheets  and  a  half,  so  that  there 
will  still  be  left  one  sheet  to  be  filled  up.  If  it  cannot  be 
done  in  any  other  w^ay,  I  will  myself  provide  for  this 
seventh  sheet,  and  briefly  give  out  of  the  History  of  the 

The  Horcn. 


32 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


Netherlands  a  piece  that  by  itself  is  interesting,  viz.  :  the 
siege  of  Antwerp  under  Philip  IL,  in  which  there  is  much 
that  is  remarkable.  It  will  cost  me  little  trouble,  and  this 
end  will  thereby  be  gained,  that  in  this,  the  very  first  num- 
ber, the  historical  field  will  be  entered.  Of  course,  this 
expedient  will  be  abandoned  the  moment  there  is  hope  of 
getting  a  tale  from  you.  That  the  appearance  of  the  first 
number  is  delayed  a  week  cannot  be  avoided.  This,  how- 
ever, is  not  so  great  an  evil,  and,  perhaps,  we  shall  be 
able  to  make  up  for  it  by  issuing  the  second  number  within 
a  week  after  it. 

As  in  my  address  to  the  public,  I  shall  make  profession 
of  modesty  in  judging  of  political  matters,  I  suggest  for 
your  consideration,  whether  a  party  of  the  public,  and  not 
the  least  numerous,  might  not  take  offence  at  what  you  put 
in  the  mouth  of  the  privy  counsellor  ?  Although  it  is  not 
the  author  who  speaks,  but  an  interlocutor,  still  the  weight 
is  on  his  side,  and  we  have  to  be  more  guarded  against 

what  seems  than  what  is. 

********* 

The  proof-sheets  of  the  Horen  will  be  sent  weekly  ;  I 
doubt  whether  we  may  expect  the  first  for  a  fortnight. 

The  foolish  mistake  of  linger  is  very  vexatious,  for  I 
am  waiting  for  this  work  with  a  real  longing.  But  with 
not  less  eagerness  would  I  read  those  fragments  of  your 
Faust  that  are  not  yet  printed ;  for  I  tell  you  frankly,  that 
to  me  what  I  have  read  of  them  was  the  Torso  of  Her- 
cules. In  these  scenes,  there  reign  a  power  and  a  fulness 
of  genius,  which  reveal  the  first  master — and  I  should  like 
to  accompany,  as  far  as  possible,  the  great  and  bold  spirit 
that  breathes  in  them. 

Mr.  Humboldt,  who  sends  his  best  regards  to  you,  is 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


33 


still  full  of  the  impression  which  your  manner  of  expound- 
ing Homer  made  upon  him,  and  has  excited  in  us  all  such 
a  curiosity  about  it,  that  the  first  time  you  come  over,  we 
shall  not  let  you  rest  until  you  hold  a  similar  sitting  with 
us. 

With  my  aesthetic  letters  I  get  on  slowly,  but  the  sub- 
ject makes  this  necessary,  and  I  console  myself  with 
thinking  that  the  edifice  will  have  a  good  foundation.  If 
the  little  historical  labor  did  not  intervene,  I  could  perhaps 
send  you  another  parcel  in  eight  or  ten  days. 

All  with  us  recommend  themselves  to  your  friendly 
remembrance. 

Schiller. 

XXVII. 

I  AM  very  glad  that  you  are  in  the  general  not  dissatis- 
fied with  my  Introduction.  I  will  go  through  it  again  and 
attend  to  your  suggestions.  Your  historical  piece  will 
doubtless  be  serviceable  to  the  number,  which  will  thereby 
gain  in  desirable  variety.  In  the  second  number  I  hope 
to  get  the  tale  ;  but  I  design  to  follow  the  example  of  the 
narrator  in  the  thousand  and  one  nights.  I  rejoice  in 
having  the  benefit  of  your  remarks  as  I  proceed,  and  thereby 
to  give  new  life  to  this  performance.  The  same  advan- 
tage I  hope  for  the  novel.  Let  me  not  wait  long  for  the 
continuation  of  your  letters. 

I  cannot  now  send  you  anything  of  Faust ;  I  cannot 
venture  to  untie  the  package  in  which  he  is  bound  up.  I 
could  not  copy  without  working  to  finish  it,  and  that  I  do 
not  feel  in  a  mood  for.  If  anything  can  make  ilie  do  it 
hereafter,  it  will  certainly  be  your  sympathy  and  co-opera- 
tion. 

2* 


34 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


That  Mr.  Humboldt  liked  our  Homeric  discussion  is 
very  satisfactory  to  me,  for  I  undertook  it  with  some  anxi- 
ety. A  pleasure  enjoyed  in  common  with  others  has 
great  charms  ;  but  it  is  so  often  marred  by  diversity  among 
the  partakers.  Thus  far  a  good  genius  has  ever  watched 
over  our  hours.  Suppose  we  read  some  books  together  : 
this  would  afford  us  a  rich  enjoyment. 

Farewell,  and  let  me  not  be  far  from  you  and  yours. 

Weimar,  2d  December,  1794. 

Goethe. 

XXXI.* 

At  last  here  is  the  first  book  of  Wilhelm  Meister.  Un- 
fortunately you  will  only  see  the  first  two  books  after  the 
mould  has  given  them  a  fixed  form  :  nevertheless,  give 
me  your  opinion  frankly — tell  me  what  is  wished  and 
expected.  The  following  books  you  will  see  while  yet  in 
the  pliant  manuscript,  and  you  will  not  withhold  from  me 
your  friendly  counsel. 

Cotta  is  probably  right  in  wishing  to  put  the  names  to 
the  articles  in  the  Journal ;  he  knows  the  public,  which 
looks  more  to  the  stamp  than  the  substance.  I  therefore 
leave  it  entirely  to  the  other  co-laborers  to  determine 
respecting  their  contributions  ;  but  as  to  mine,  I  must 
request  that  they  all  appear  anonymously.  Only  in  this 
way,  consistently  with  my  other  relations,  can  I  take  part 
in  your  journal  with  freedom  and  spirit. 

If  you  find  misprints  or  anything  else  to  remark  upon  in 
the  novel,  hav^e  the  goodness  to  mark  them  with  a  pencil. 

*  The  intervening  letters  from  twenty-seven  to  thirty-one,  relate 
to  the  contents  of  the  Journal  and  arrangements  with  the  publisher. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


35 


I  am  glad  that  I  shall  soon  have  something  more  from 
you  to  read,  and  hope,  after  New  Year,  to  see  you  again 
for  a  short  time. 

Meyer  greets  you,  and  I  beg  to  be  remembered  by  you. 

Weimar,  6th  December,  1794. 

G. 


XXXII. 

Jena,  9th  December,  1794. 

With  hearty  delight  have  I  read  and  devoured  the  first 
book  of  Wilhelm  Meister,  and  owe  to  it  an  enjoyment  such 
as  I  have  not  had  for  a  long  time,  and  never  but  through 
you.  I  should  really  be  vexed  if  I  could  ascribe  the  mistrust 
with  which  you  speak  of  this  admirable  product  of  your 
genius,  to  any  other  cause  than  the  vastness  of  the  requi- 
sitions which  your  mind  will  always  make  of  itself.  For 
I  find  in  it  nothing  that  does  not  harmonize  perfectly  with 
the  beautiful  whole.  Do  not  expect  to-day  a  more  detailed 
opinion  from  me.  The  journal  and  its  announcement, 
together  with  to-day  being  post-day,  distract  me  too  much 
to  permit  me  to  gather  up  my  mind  for  such  a  purpose.  If 
I  may  keep  the  sheets  here  some  days  longer,  I  will  take 
more  time  to  it,  and  try  if  I  can  divine  something  of  the 
course  of  the  story  and  the  development  of  the  charac- 
ters. Mr.  Humboldt  has  had  a  high  pleasure  in  it,  and  like 
me,  finds  your  genius  in  all  its  vigorous  youth,  calm 
power,  and  creative  fullness.  No  doubt  this  impression 
will  be  general.  The  connexion  between  its  parts  is  so 
simple  and  beautiful,  and  so  much  is  efl!ected  with  little. 
I  acknowledge  I  at  first  feared,  that  on  account  of  the  long 
interval  that  must  have  elapsed  between  the  first  writing 
of  it  and  the  giving  to  it  the  last  finish,  a  little  inequality 


36 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


might  be  visible.  But  of  this  there  is  no  trace.  The  bold 
poetic  passages  which  flash  up  from  the  calm  current  of 
the  whole,  have  an  excellent  effect  ;  they  elevate  and  fill 
the  soul.  Of  the  beautiful  delineation  of  character  I  will 
to-day  say  nothing  ;  nor  of  the  living  graphic  naturalness 
of  all  the  descriptions,  and  which,  however,  cannot  be 
denied  to  any  of  your  productions.  Of  the  truth  of  the  pic- 
ture of  a  theatrical  economy  and  theatrical  tone,  I  am  very 
competent  to  judge,  being  better  acquainted  with  both  than 
I  have  cause  to  desire.  The  apology  for  commerce  is 
noble  and  in  a  grand  spirit.  But  that  by  the  side  of  this 
you  could  still  maintain  with  a  kind  of  triumph  the  disposi- 
tion (to  poetry)  of  the  hero,  is  certainly  not  the  least  of  the 
victories  which  form  gains  over  substance.  But  I  must 
not  go  deeper  into  the  subject,  as  I  could  not  just  now  do 
justice  to  it. 

I  have  put  an  interdict  upon  Gotta  in  regard  to  the  names 
of  all  of  us  :  the  advertisement  I  have  to  my  great  relief 
finished  to-day,  and  it  is  to  be  appended  to  the  Intelligence 
sheet  of  the  Literary  Gazette.  Your  promise  to  come  over 
here  after  Ghristmas,  gives  me  much  comfort,  and  makes 
me  look  towards  my  enemy,  the  winter,  with  somewhat  of 
cheerfulness. 

I  have  not  yet  been  able  to  learn  anything  of  the  story 
relating  to  Mademoiselle  Glairon.  My  wife  recollects  to 
have  heard  that  in  Bayreuth,  on  the  opening  of  an  old 
building,  the  old  Margraves  appeared  and  prophesied.  X., 
who  generally  knows  something  de  rebus  omnibus  et  qui- 
busdam  aliis,  could  give  me  no  information  about  it. 

All  here  commend  themselves  to  you  and  rejoice  at  your 
promised  visit. 

Schiller. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


37 


XXXIII. 

You  have  given  me  much  pleasure  by  your  testimony 
in  favor  of  the  first  book  of  my  novel.  After  the  singular 
fate  this  work  has  had,  it  would  be  not  at  all  wonderful  if 
my  head  had  got  confused  in  regard  to  it.  I  shall  adhere 
strictly  to  my  plan,  and  shall  rejoice  if  it  conducts  me  out 
of  this  labyrinth. 

Keep  the  first  book  as  long  as  you  please  :  the  second 
you  will  receive  soon,  and  you  will  read  the  third  in  manu- 
script. Thus  you  will  have  more  points  of  view  from 
which  to  form  a  judgment.  I  hope  that  your  enjoyment 
may  not  diminish,  but  increase  with  the  next  books.  As 
I  have  now  your  voice  and  that  of  Mr.  Humboldt,  I  will 
work  on  the  more  assiduously. 

The  withholding  of  the  names,  which  should  certainly 
be  mentioned  in  the  advertisement,  will  add  to  the  interest 
of  the  Journal :  only  the  articles  must  be  good. 

In  regard  to  the  Clairon  story  I  am  now  satisfied,  and 
would  rather  that  nothing  more  be  said  of  it  until  we  pro- 
duce it. 

Farewell.  I  hope  that  I  shall  have  the  pleasure  of  be- 
ginning the  new  year  with  you. 

Weimar,  10th  December,  1794. 

G. 

XXXIV. 

Jena,  22d  December,  1794. 

Here  at  last  you  have  a  sight  of  the  Horen,  which  I 
hope  may  please  you.  The  print  is  somewhat  close, 
whereby  the  public  gains  more  than  we  do.  But  hereafter 
we  shall  be  able  to  change  that,  particularly  in  the  poetic 
pieces,  and  spread  ourselves  over  a  larger  surface.  At 


38 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


first  Starting  I  do  not  dislike  that  the  long  articles  appa- 
rently go  together.  I  shall  also  provide  that  Cotta  in  some 
way  remunerate  those  of  us  who  contribute  much,  and  to 
whom,  therefore,  the  closeness  of  the  print  is  a  matter  of 
some  importance. 

I  hope  that  you  will  find  no  misprints  :  I  at  least  have 
found  none.  The  type  and  form  of  the  book  give  to  it  a 
solid  and  durable  look,  and  distinguish  it  advantageously 
from  the  mass  of  journals.  The  paper  is  stout,  and  seems 
to  be  prepared  to  last  long. 

Cotta  is  urgent  for  manuscript  for  the  second  number  ; 
I  therefore  call  on  you  for  the  second  Epistle. 

I  beg  you  will  send  me  back  those  sheets,  because 
Schlitz,  who  is  now  going  to  review  the  first  number, 
wishes  to  see  it,  sheet  by  sheet.  1  have  also  requested  a 
proof  of  the  cover,  and  shall  receive  it  in  eight  days. 
Heartily  do  I  rejoice  at  your  promised  visit.  Madame  de 
Kalb  has  been  here  some  days. 

Schiller. 

XXXV. 

The  sheets  will  be  sent  back  immediately.  Both  paper 
and  print  look  well,  particularly  the  prose.  Through  the 
mixture  of  single  and  double  lines  the  Hexameters  lose 
rhythm  to  the  eye. 

Here  is  the  second  Epistle.  You  shall  have  the  third 
in  time  to  open  the  third  number  with  it. 

I  will  now  set  to  work  at  the  Ghost-story.  I  shall  get 
through  a  good  deal  before  the  end  of  the  year,  in  order 
to  be  able  to  greet  you  with  the  more  satisfaction  in  the 
new. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


39 


Make  Cotta  send  back  the  manuscripts  :  this  is  advisa- 
ble on  several  accounts. 

Farewell,  and  greet  for  me  Madame  de  K.,  who  unfor- 
tunately passed  by  me  this  time  at  a  distance. 

Weimar,  23d  December,  1794. 

G. 

XXXVI. 

On  account  of  old  Obereit,  I  write  you  a  few  words  to- 
day. He  seems  to  be  in  great  want ;  I  have  twenty  rix 
dollars  for  him,  which  I  will  send  you  on  Saturday.  Will 
you  in  the  meanwhile  advance  him  something  ?  and  keep 
what  I  shall  send,  and  give  it  to  him  part  at  a  time,  for  he 
will  never  learn  how  to  handle  this  tool.  Farewell  ;  my 
third  book  is  ready,  and  everything  seems  to  promise  that 
I  shall  be  in  fine  spirits  when  I  see  you  after  New  Year. 

Weimar,  25th  December,  1794. 

G. 

XXXVII. 

Jena,  2d  January,  1795. 

My  best  wishes  for  the  New  Year,  and  hearty  thanks 
to  you  for  the  past,  which,  through  your  friendship,  is 
notable  and  memorable  to  me  above  all  others. 

I  have  closed  it  in  much  diligence,  and,  in  order  to  have 
something  finished  when  you  come,  have  taxed  myself 
stoutly  during  the  last  few  days.  I  have  just  got  to  the 
end  of  my  work,  and  it  can  be  laid  before  you  when  you 
come. 

The  epistle,  for  which  I  thank  you,  is  still  in  my  hands  ; 
for,  as  the  piece  which  is  to  come  immediately  after  it 
was  not  ready,  it  was  useless  to  send  it.    There  is  the 


40 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


less  urgency,  too,  because  more  manuscript  was  re  quired 
for  the  first  number,  as  the  treatise  of  Fichte  did  not  suf- 
fice, and  thence  the  appearance  of  this  number  is  delayed 
a  fortnight. 

Professor  Meyer  will  pardon  me  that  I  have  sent  off  a 
part  of  his  treatise  without  his  permission.  It  was  not 
possible  to  submit  it  to  him  again  after  my  revision,  be- 
cause I  was  obliged  to  despatch  it  on  the  same  day.  I 
think,  however,  that  1  can  safely  assure  him,  that  he  will 
have  no  cause  of  dissatisfaction,  because  the  changes  I 
made  related  exclusively  to  the  outward  form.  This  trea- 
tise has  given  me  great  pleasure,  and  will  be  most  valua- 
ble matter  for  the  Horen.  It  is  so  rare  that  a  man  like 
Meyer  has  the  opportunity  to  study  art  in  Italy,  or  that 
one  Avho  has  this  opportunity  turns  out  to  be  a  Meyer. 

I  have  never  read  the  Klopstock  ode  of  which  you 
write,  and  if  it  can  be  obtained,  do  bring  it  with  you. 
The  title  leads  one  to  expect  a  production  such  as  it  is. 

I  rejoice  exceedingly  to  hear  of  the  continuation  of 
Meister,  which  I  hope  you  will  also  bring  with  you,  and  I 
am  just  now  in  a  state  to  enjoy  it  highly. 

I  wish  that  you  could  besides  let  us  hear  some  scenes 
from  Faust.  Madame  de  Kalb,  who  knew  something  of 
it,  has  lately  wrought  up  my  curiosity  about  it,  and  I 
don't  know  that  anything  in  the  whole  poetic  world  could 
give  me  more  pleasure. 

Your  commission  respecting  Obereit  shall  be  attended 
to.  For  the  present  he  has  enough  to  live  on,  having 
received  some  money  from  Meiningen.  A  part  of  the 
four  louis-d'ors  will  have  to  be  laid  out  in  clothing  for 
him,  particularly  as  thereby  he  will  be  enabled  to  frequent 
the  tables  of  his  friends,  from  which  hitherto  his  philo- 
sophic cynicism  has  excluded  him. 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


41 


I  hope  in  a  few  days  either  to  see  you  or  to  learn  on 
what  day  you  will  come.  All  here  beg  to  be  remembered 
by  you. 

ScH. 

XXXVIII. 

Much  happiness  for  the  New  Year  !  Let  us  spend  this 
one  as  we  concluded  the  last — in  reciprocal  participation 
in  what  we  love  and  work  at.  If  those  of  the  same  mind 
don't  cling  to  one  another,  what  is  to  become  of  society 
and  sociability !  I  rejoice  in  the  hope  that  co-operation 
and  confidence  will  ever  increase  between  us.  Here  is 
the  first  volume  of  the  Novel.  The  second  copy  is  for 
Humboldt.  May  the  second  book  give  you  as  much  plea- 
sure as  the  first.  The  third  I  will  bring  with  me  in  manu- 
script. 

I  hope  to  have  the  Ghost-story  ready  in  good  time. 

I  am  full  of  curiosity  about  your  new  work.  Meyer 
greets  you.  We  shall  probably  come  on  Saturday,  the 
11th.  In  the  interim  you  will  hear  from  me  again. 
Farewell. 

Weimar,  3d  January,  1795. 

G. 

XXXIX. 

Here  you  have  the  third  book,  to  which  I  wish  a  good 
reception. 

Saturday  you  will  receive  my  little  tale  for  the  Horen ; 
I  hope  that  I  may  have  approved  myself  not  entirely  un- 
worthy of  my  great  predecessor  in  describing  forebodings 
and  visions. 

I  shall  see  you  Sunday  afternoon.  For  the  evening  I 
have  engaged  myself  with  Loder  to  the  club. 


42 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


Meyer  will  come  with  me.  I  am  delighted  to  hear  of 
your  new  work,  and  am  thinking  constantly  what  course 
you  have  followed  in  it ;  but  I  shall  probably  not  be  able 
to  hit  upon  it. 

Farewell,  and  commend  me  to  your  friends. 

Weimar,  7th  January,  1795. 

G. 

XL. 

Jena,  7ih  January,  1795. 

For  the  unexpected  copy  of  the  Novel  take  my  best 
thanks.  The  feeling  which  penetrates  and  possesses  me 
with  increasing  force  on  reading  this  work,  I  cannot  bet- 
ter express  than  by  calling  it  a  delicious  inward  content- 
ment— a  feeling  of  spiritual  and  bodily  heaUh,  and  I  will 
answer  for  it  that  this  effect  will  be  the  same  with  most 
readers. 

This  healthful  operation  I  ascribe  to  the  calm  clearness, 
smoothness  and  transparence,  which  leave  nothing  behind 
to  dissatisfy  or  disturb  the  mind,  exciting  it  no  further 
than  is  necessary  to  kindle  and  keep  alive  a  gladsome 
animation.  About  individual  parts  I  will  say  nothing  un- 
til I  shall  have  read  the  third  book,  which  I  look  for  with 
longing. 

I  cannot  express  to  you  with  what  a  painful  feeling  it 
often  is  that  I  pass  from  a  production  of  this  kind  to  the 
philosophical.  There,  all  is  so  joyous,  so  alive,  so  har- 
moniously evolved  and  so  humanly  true ;  here,  all  so 
severe,  so  stiff  and  abstract,  and  so  unnatural,  because  all 
nature  is  only  synthesis  and  all  philosophy  antithesis. 
True,  I  may  say  for  myself,  that  in  my  speculations  I  have 
remained  as  true  to  nature  as  is  compatible  with  the  idea 
of  analysis — perhaps  even  truer  than  our  Kanteans  would 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


43 


regard  as  allowable  or  possible.  Nevertheless,  I  feel  most 
sensibly  the  infinite  distance  between  Life  and  Reasoning 
— and  in  a  melancholy  moment  of  this  kind  cannot  help 
regarding  as  a  deficiency  in  my  own  nature,  what  in  a 
happier  mood  I  must  look  on  as  a  quality  inherent  in  the 
thing  itself.  This  much,  however,  is  certain,  the  poet  is 
the  only  true  man,  and  the  best  philosopher  is  only  a  cari- 
cature in  comparison  with  him. 

I  need  not  assure  you,  how  full  of  expectation  I  am  to 
learn  what  you  say  to  my  philosophy  of  the  Beautiful.  As 
the  Beautiful  itself  is  derived  from  entire  human  nature, 
so  is  this  my  analysis  drawn  from  my  entire  humanity,  and 
I  cannot  but  be  deeply  concerned  to  know  how  this  ac- 
cords with  yours. 

Your  visit  here  will  be  to  me  a  source  of  nourishment 
for  soul  and  heart.  Particularly  do  I  long  to  enjoy  in 
common  with  you  certain  poetic  works. 

You  promised  me  to  take  an  opportunity  to  let  me  hear 
your  Epigrams,  It  would  be  an  additional  great  pleasure 
to  me  if  you  could  do  this  on  your  coming  visit,  as  it  is 
uncertain  how  soon  I  shall  be  able  to  go  to  Weimar. 

I  beg  you  to  give  to  Meyer  my  most  friendly  regards. 
All  here  rejoice  at  your  and  his  coming  thither,  and  no 
one  more  than  your  most  sincere  admirer  and  friend, 

ScH. 

Just  as  I  am  about  closing  I  receive  the  welcome  con- 
tinuation of  Meister.    A  thousand  thanks  for  it. 

XLI. 

Nothing  has  come  in  the  way  of  our  purpose  to  see 
you  to-morrow  and  to  pass  some  time  near  you  ;  I  hope  to 
find  you  Avell  and  cheerful. 


44 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


The  accompanying  manuscript  I  have  not  been  able  to 
look  through  after  it  was  copied.  I  shall  be  very  glad  if 
my  endeavor  to  rival  the  great  Hennings^meets  with  your 
commendation. 

Farewell,  and  greet  your  wife  and  friends. 

Weimar,  lOth  January,  1795. 

G. 

XLII. 

Jena,  25th  January,  1795. 

Had  you  remained  a  day  longer  with  us,  we  should  have 
been  able  to  celebrate  together  the  advent  of  the  Horen. 
They  came  yesterday,  and  herewith  I  send  you  your  num- 
ber of  copies,  and  one  for  our  friend  Meyer.  There  are 
more  at  your  service  whenever  you  want  them.  I  only 
hope  that  the  outward  appearance  may  meet  the  approba- 
tion of  both  of  you. 

Cotta  writes  in  high  spirits.  So  many  orders  have  al- 
ready been  received,  that  he  promises  himself  a  large 
sale :  and  this  from  the  mouth  of  a  publisher  is  a  credible 
assurance. 

As  I  am  about  to  send  a  package  to  Jacobi,  I  beg  you 

to  send  me  the  letter  you  spoke  of  to  enclose  it,  as  I  do 

not  like  to  trouble  you  with  the  package.    I  also  wish  to 

know  whether  you  design  one  of  your  copies  for  the  Duke, 

for  if  you  do,  I  shall  omit  to  present  him  with  one. 
*  *  *  #  # 

All  here  beg  to  be  kindly  remembered  by  you. 
Entirely  yours, 

SCH. 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


45 


XLIII. 

Thanks  for  the  copies  of  the  Horen ;  they  have  a  very- 
neat  appearance.  One  of  the  small  ones  I  have  delivered 
to  the  Duke  in  your  name,  and  think  it  would  be  well  if 
you  took  the  occasion  to  write  him  a  word.  I  doubt  not 
that  the  Journal  will  do  well. 

My  third  book  is  despatched ;  I  went  through  it  once 
more,  bearing  in  mind  your  remarks  upon  it. 

This  week  is  passing  away  amidst  theatrical  troubles  ; 
after  which  I  shall  go  actively  to  work  again  at  my  ap- 
pointed labors. 

I  wish  you  health  and  spirits  lor  yours. 

Meyer  greets  you.  Accept  once  more  our  thanks  for  all 
your  kindness  in  Jena. 

Weimar,  27th  January,  1795. 

G. 

XLV. 

'Jena,  28th  January,  1795. 

I  AM  much  obliged  to  you  for  your  kindness  in  giving 
the  Duke  a  copy  of  the  Horen  in  my  name.  I  herewith 
send  you  another,  and  as  I  expect  some  more  from  Cotta 
next  Saturday,  I  will  send  some  to  you,  together  with  the 
package  for  Jacobi. 

I  wrote  to-day  to  the  Duke.  What  he  says  to  our  Jour- 
nal, I  shall  hear  from  you. 

I  have  at  last  read  in  manuscript,  I.'s  famous  review  of 
the  Horen,  For  our  purpose  it  is  very  good— much  better 
than  for  our  ta^te.  The  images  from  Utopia  have  not  yet 
entirely  left  his  imagination  ;  for  he  has  much  to  say  about 
eating. 

He  deserves  praise  for  having  extracted  many  passages 


46 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


from  the  Epistle.  Against  me  he  has  some  grudge,  which 
however  he  does  not  let  appear,  in  order  to  avoid  any- 
kind  of  collision.  I  shall  be  glad  if  he  thereby  maintains 
in  a  skilful  manner  the  character  of  impartiality. 

I  wrote  to  Herder  a  few  days  since,  and  beg  you,  if  yon 
have  an  opportunity,  to  sustain  the  request  I  have  made  of 
him. 

Since  your  departure  the  Muses  have  not  visited  me 
very  freely,  and  there  must  be  a  change  in  that  respect,  if 
I  am  to  do  honor  to  the  Centaur  of  the  fourth  number. 
The  children  have  had  the  small-pox,  and  got  through 
them  very  happily. 

SCH. 

XLVI. 

How  much  I  desire  that  my  fourth  book  may  find  you 
in  good  health  and  mood,  and  afford  you  some  hours'  en- 
tertainment !  May  I  beg  you  to  make  a  mark  where  you 
find  anything  questionable  ?  I  likewise  commend  my 
hero  and  his  companions  to  Mr.  Humboldt  and  the  ladies. 

If  I  do  not  come  on  Saturday  as  I  hope  to,  you  will 
hear  from  me  again. 

Weimar,  11th  February,  1795. 

G. 

XLVIl. 

You  told  me  the  other  day  that  you  thought  of  coming 
over  here  soon.  Although  I  fear  that  the  return  of  cold 
weather  may  prevent  you,  I  will  still  make  you  a  proposal. 

You  could  both  stop  with  me  ;  or,  if  your  wife  would 
like  to  lodge  somewhere  else,  I  still  wish  that  you  would 
take  possession  of  your  old  quarters.  Follow  your  own 
mind  about  it :  you  will  both  be  heartily  welcome. 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


47 


Under  the  influence  of  the  spirit  which  the  recent  con- 
versation with  you  infused  into  me,  I  have  already  worked 
out  the  plan  for  the  fifth  and  sixth  books.  How  much 
more  profitable  it  is  to  be  reflected  in  others  than  in  one- 
self! 

Are  you  acquainted  with  the  observations  of  Kant  on 
the  feeling  of  the  Beautiful  and  Sublime  of  1771  ?  It 
would  be  a  very  clever  work,  if  the  words  Beautiful  and 
Sublime  were  not  placed  in  the  title,  and  occurred  less 
frequently  in  the  little  book  itself.  It  is  full  of  delightful 
remarks  on  man,  and  one  sees  his  principles  already 
sprouting.    You  surely  know  it. 

Has  no  intelligence  been  yet  received  of  the  absent 
Mr.  Humboldt  ?*  Commend  me  to  your  circle,  and  con- 
tinue to  refresh  and  elevate  me  through  your  love  and 
confidence. 

Weimar,  18th  February,  1795. 

G. 

XLVIll. 

Jena,  19th  February,  1795. 

The  wretched  weather  has  again  taken  away  all  my 
spirits,  and  my  threshold  is  once  more  the  boundary  of  my 
wishes  and  peregrinations.  How  gladly  will  I  avail  my- 
self of  your  invitation  so  soon  as  I  can  trust  my  health  a 
little,  if  it  be  but  for  a  few  hours.  I  long  much  to  do  so, 
and  my  wife,  whose  heart  is  set  upon  the  visit  to  you,  will 
not  let  me  rest  until  it  is  carried  into  efiect. 

I  lately  gave  faithfully  back  to  you  the  impression 
which  Wilhelm  Meister  made  on  me,  which  is,  therefore, 
as  is  natural,  your  own  fire  at  which  you  warm  yourself. 


*  The  celebrated  traveller. 


48  CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 

Körner  wrote  me  about  it  a  few  days  since  with  infinite 
satisfaction,  and  his  judgment  is  to  be  depended  upon.  I 
have  never  met  with  a  critic  who  let  himself  be  so  little 
diverted  by  the  accessories  of  a  poetical  work  from  the 
main  design.  He  finds  in  Wilhelm  Meister  all  the  power 
of  the  Sufferings  of  Werther,  only  tamed  by  a  manly 
spirit,  and  purified  to  the  calm  grace  of  a  perfect  work  of 
art. 

What  you  write  concerning  the  little  work  of  Kant,  I 
recollect  to  have  experienced  on  reading  it.  Of  the  fun- 
damental principles  of  the  Beautiful  nothing  is  learnt  in 
it ;  but,  as  a  natural  history  of  the  Sublime  and  Beautiful, 
it  contains  valuable  matter.  For  so  serious  a  subject,  the 
style  seemed  to  me  to  be  somewhat  too  playful  and  flow- 
ery ;  a  singular  fault  in  a  Kant,  which,  however,  is  easily 
accounted  for. 

Herder  has  presented  us  with  a  treatise  capitally  exe- 
cuted, on  a  subject  most  happily  chosen,  in  which  the 
current  notion  of  a  particular  destiny  is  handled  delight- 
fully. Things  of  this  kind  are  especially  suitable  for 
our  purpose,  because  there  is  something  of  the  mystical 
in  them,  which,  through  the  mode  of  treating  them,  may 
be  connected  with  some  general  truth. 

As  we  are  on  the  subject  of  destiny,  1  must  tell  you, 
that  I  have  within  a  few  days  decided  something  concern- 
ing mine.  My  countrymen  have  done  me  the  honor  to 
invite  me  to  Tiibingen,  where  they  seem  just  now  to  be 
very  busy  with  reforming.  But  as  I  have  become  unfit 
for  an  academical  teacher,  I  would  rather  be  idle  here 
in  Jena  than  anywhere  else,  where  I  am  very  contented, 
and  where,  if  possible,  I  will  live  and  die.  I  have,  there- 
fore, refused  the  oflfer,  and  take  to  myself  no  credit  for  so 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


49 


doing,  for  my  inclination  alone  decided  the  whole  matter, 
so  that  I  was  not  obliged  to  call  to  mind  the  obligations  I 
owe  to  our  excellent  Duke,  and  which  I  would  rather 
owe  to  him  than  to  any  one  else.  For  a  living,  I  think  I 
need  not  have  any  anxiety,  so  long  as  I  can  hold  a  pen, 
and  so  I  trust  to  Heaven,  which  has  never  yet  deserted 
me. 

Mr.  Humboldt,  of  Bayreuth,  has  not  yet  come,  and  has 
not  yet  written  anything  certain  about  his  coming. 

Herewith  I  send  you  the  Weisshuhnian  papers  of  which 
I  spoke  to  you.    Please  send  them  back  soon. 

We  all  commend  ourselves  heartily  to  your  remem- 
brance. 

ScH. 

XLIX. 

How  much  I  rejoice  that  you  will  remain  in  Jena,  and 
that  your  fatherland  has  not  been  able  to  draw  you  back 
to  it.  1  hope  that  we  shall  be  able  to  do  and  perfect 
much  together  yet. 

I  beg  that  you  will  send  me  back  the  manuscript  of 
the  fourth  book :  I  will  return  the  Synonyms  soon. 
Thus  will  the  dance  of  time  grow  ever  livelier.  Fare- 
well.   More  soon. 

Weimar,  21st  February,  1795. 

G. 

L. 

Jena,  22d  February,  1795. 

According  to  your  request,  here  is  the  fourth  book  of 
Wilhelm  Meister.  Where  I  found  something  to  object 
to,  1  have  made  a  mark  on  the  margin,  whose  meaning 

3 


50 


C  O  R  R  E  S 1 '  O  M)  K  N  C  E    E  E  l'  V\'  E  E  X 


you  will  easily  find  out :  and  if  you  do  not,  there  will 
be  nothing  lost. 

I  must  make  a  somewhat  more  important  remark  con- 
cerning the  present  of  money  made  by  the  Countess  to  Wil- 
helm, through  the  hands  of  the  Baron.  It  appears  to  me — 
and  so  it  does  to  Humboldt  too — that  after  the  tender  rela- 
tions between  them,  she  should  not  offer  him  such  a  present, 
nor  he  accept  it.  T  sought  in  the  context  for  something 
that  could  save  her  and  his  delicacy,  and  think  that  this 
would  be  done  if  this  present  were  given  him  as  a  reim- 
bursement for  expenses  incurred,  and  were  accepted  by 
him  under  this  name.  Decide  yourself.  As  it  now 
stands,  the  reader  hesitates  and  becomes  embarrassed 
how  he  shall  save  the  hero's  delicacy. 

For  the  rest,  I  have  enjoyed  on  a  second  perusal  a 
renewed  pleasure  from  the  perfect  truth  of  the  descrip- 
tions and  the  excellent  criticism  on  Hamlet.  As  to  the 
latter,  I  could  wish,  merely  for  the  sake  of  the  linking 
together  of  the  Avhole,  and  of  variety,  which  is  sustained 
throughout  in  so  high  a  degree,  that  it  were  not  set  forth 
in  one  mass,  but  that,  if  possible,  it  could  have  been  inter- 
rupted by  some  intervening  occurrences.  On  the  first 
meeting  w^ith  Serlo,  it  is  renew^ed  too  suddenly,  and 
immediately  afterwards  again  in  the  apartment  of  Aurelia. 
These,  however,  are  trifles  which  would  not  occur  to  the 
reader,  if  you  yourself  had  not  created  by  all  that  goes 
before  the  expectation  of  the  greatest  variety. 

Körner,  who  wrote  to  me  yesterday,  has  charged  me 
to  thank  you  for  the  high  pleasure  that  Wilhelm  Meister 
has  given  him. 

I  must  earnestly  beg  you  to  bear  in  mind  our  third 
number  of  the  Horen.    Cotta  begs  me  urgently  to  send 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


51 


him  the  manuscript  earlier, — and  says,  that  the  tenth  of 
the  month  must  be  the  latest  date  on  which  he  must  have 
all  the  copy.  It  must  therefore  be  sent  from  this  on  the 
third.  Do  you  think  that  by  that  time  you  will  be  ready 
with  the  Advocate  1  My  reminding  must  by  no  means 
put  you  to  inconvenience,  for  you  have  perfectly  free 
choice  to  give  it  to  either  the  third  or  fourth  number,  as, 
at  any  rate,  for  one  of  those  two  numbers  nothing  is  to  be 
required  of  you. 

We  all  commend  ourselves  warmly  to  your  remem- 
brance, and  I  beg  you  to  greet  Meyer  for  me. 

ScH. 

LI. 

Your  kind  critical  concern  for  my  work  has  animated 

me  with  new  courage  to  go  through  once  more  the  fourth 

book.    I  understood  very  well  your  marks,  and  have 

availed  myself  of  your  hints,  and  hope  to  remedy  the 

other  deficiencies,  and  to  improve  the  whole.    But,  as  I 

must  set  to  work  at  it  immediately,  you  must  excuse  me 

for  the  third  number,  in  return  for  which  the  Advocate 

shall  make  its  appearance  in  all  elegance  in  the  fourth. 
********* 

I  hope  soon  to  visit  you,  if  only  for  a  few  hours. 
Though  absent,  let  me  not  be  distant  from  you. 

Assure  Körner  that  his  interest  gives  me  infxnite  plea- 
sure. Farewell. 

Weimar,  25th  February,  1795. 

GOE. 


52 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


LH. 

Jena,  27th  February,  1795. 

If  the  fine  weather  which  we  have  here,  is  enjoyed  by 
you,  I  congratulate  you  on  account  of  the  fourth  book  of 
Wilhelm  Meister.  This  announcement  of  Spring  has 
quite  refreshed  me,  and  diffused  on  my  work  a  new  life 
which  it  much  needed.  With  all  our  boasted  indepen- 
dence, how  dependent  we  are  on  the  elements,  and  what  is 
our  will  if  nature  fails  us !  That  on  which  I  brooded  for 
five  weeks,  a  mild  look  of  the  sun  has  loosed  in  me  in 
three  days  :  true,  that  probably  my  previous  perseverance 
prepared  this  development,  but  still  with  the  warming  sun 
it  came. 

I  obtain  more  and  more  command  over  my  materials, 
and  discover  at  every  step  that  I  make  forwards,  how  firm 
and  secure  the  ground  is  on  which  I  have  built.  An 
objection  that  should  overturn  the  whole,  I  have  no  longer 
any  cause  to  fear,  and  against  single  errors  in  the  appli- 
cation, the  strong  connection  of  the  whole  will  itself 
secure  me. 

The  new  Horen  are  ready,  and  one  copy  of  it  has  already 
been  sent  to  me  by  the  letter-post.  To-morrow  I  expect 
the  package.  In  this  number  we  have  fully  corrected  the 
fault  we  committed  in  the  first,  for,  instead  of  seven 
sheets,  it  contains  eight  and  a  half. 

According  to  your  promise,  we  may  every  day  expect 
a  visit  from  you.  All  are  well,  and  beg  to  be  remembered 
by  you. 

SCH. 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


53 


LIU. 

Here  you  have  the  Synonyms  I  forgot  before.  I  read 
a  short  extract  from  it  yesterday  to  some  friends,  without 
saying  whence  it  came  or  whither  it  was  going.  They 
praised  it  highly. 

It  will  not  be  amiss,  if  I  often  read  out  in  this  way  from 
our  manuscripts  beforehand.  It  will  have  the  effect  of 
making  a  dozen  people  better  disposed  towards  the  Journal, 
and  curious  about  the  next  number. 

On  the  happy  progress  of  your  work  I  congratulate 
you.  All  that  we  can  do  is  to  build  up  the  pile  and  dry 
it  well :  it  will  take  fire  at  the  right  time,  and  we  our- 
selves will  wonder  at  it. 

I  send  you  a  letter  from  Jacobi ;  you  will  see  that  he  is 
doing  well.  I  am  pleased  at  the  interest  he  takes  in 
your  letters.  His  judgment  on  my  first  volume*  he  has 
handed  over  to  you  for  revision. 

Farewell — I  will  see  you  as  soon  as  I  can. 

Weimar,  28lh  February,  1795. 

G. 

LIV. 

Jena,  1st  March,  1795. 

Here  I  send  you  for  the  present  four  copies  of  the 
Horen,  one  of  which  I  request  you  to  deliver  to  the  Duke. 
The  others  will  follow. 

The  criticism  of  Jacobi  has  not  at  all  surprised  me  ; 
for  it  is  as  inevitable  that  an  individual  like  him  should  be 
offended  by  the  unsparing  truths  of  your  pictures,  as  it  is 
that  a  mind  like  yours  should  give  him  cause  to  be  so. 


*  Of  Wilhelm  Meister. 


54 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


Jacobi  is  one  of  those  who  seek  only  their  own  ideas 
in  the  representations  of  the  Poet,  and  prize  more  what 
should  he  than  what  is ;  the  contest  therefore  begins  in 
first  principles,  and  it  is  utterly  impossible  that  the  parties 
should  come  to  an  understanding. 

So  soon  as  a  man  lets  me  see  that  there  is  anything  in 
poetical  representations  that  interests  him  more  than  in- 
ternal necessity  and  truth,  I  give  him  up.  If  he  could 
show  you  that  the  immorality  of  your  pictures  does  not 
proceed  from  the  nature  of  the  object,  but  from  the  man- 
ner in  which  you  treat  it,  then  indeed  would  you  be  ac- 
countable, but  not  because  you  had  sinned  against  moral 
laws,  but  against  critical.  But  I  should  like  to  see  how 
he  could  show  this. 

A  visit  interrupts  me,  and  I  will  not  detain  the  package. 

SCH. 

LV. 

Jena,  8th  MarA,  1795. 

My  expectation  of  seeing  you  last  week  was  disap- 
pointed, but  I  hope  this  was  owing  solely  to  your  zeal  in 
keeping  at  work.  But  neither  to  see  you  nor  to  hear  from 
you  is  what  I  cannot  now  accustom  myself  to. 

I  am  very  anxious  about  your  present  occupation.  I 
have  heard  that  you  intend  to  have  the  third  volume  of 
Meister  printed  as  early  as  midsummer.  That  would  be 
sooner  than  I  expected  ;  but  although  I  should  rejoice  on 
Meister's  account,  I  should  regret  that  you  were  thereby 
so  long  withdrawn  from  the  Horen. 

Of  the  fate  of  the  second  number,  I  have  not  yet  been 
able  to  learn  anything  :  perhaps  you  have  heard  some- 
thing entertaining  about  it  in  Weimar. 


SCHILLER   AND  OüETHi:. 


55 


Is  our  friend  Meyer  satisfied  with  his  Essay  ?  I  hope 
he  may  be.  Cotta  writes  me  that  this  piece  has  pleased 
many,  and  I  doubt  not  that  it  will  do  us  honor. 

Here  I  send  you  four  more  numbers  of  the  Horen, 
among  which  is  one  for  Meyer.  Should  you,  instead  of 
copies  on  writing  paper,  want  one  or  two  on  post,  be  so 
good  as  to  let  me  know — and  send  back  those  on  writing 
paper.    All  send  kind  remembrances  to  you. 

ScH. 

LVI. 

Notwithstanding  a  lively  desire  to  see  you  and  talk 
to  you,  I  could  not  budge  last  week.  Some  play-actors, 
whose  parts  I  wished  to  decide  upon,  the  bad  weather 
and  a  rheumatism  I  brought  on  by  taking  cold,  have  suc- 
cessively prevented  me,  and  I  do  not  yet  see  how  and 
when  I  shall  get  aw^ay. 

So  much  let  me  say,  that  I  have  been  diligent,  that  the 
greatest  part  of  the  fourth  book  has  been  sent  off,  and  that 
the  Advocate  is  fmished.  I  hope  that  the  manner  in 
which  I  have  designed  and  executed  this  story  may  not 
displease  you. 

If  my  novel  can  appear  on  its  appointed  periods,  I 
shall  be  content :  a  hastening  of  it  is  not  to  be  thought  of. 
Nothing  shall  prevent  me  from  taking  that  part  in  the 
Horen  which  you  wished. 

If  I  economize  and  methodize  my  time,  I  shall  be  able 
to  get  through  a  good  deal  this  year. 

Of  the  second  number  of  the  Horen,  I  have  as  yet 
heard  nothing :  but  the  first  stalks  about  formidably  enough 
already  in  Germany. 

Meyer  thanks  you  for  your  editing  of  his  ideas ;  there 


56 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


are  a  few  things  that  might  be  put  differently,  but  these 
no  one  will  notice.  He  is  now  at  work  on  a  representa- 
tion of  Perugino,  Bellini  and  Mantegna. 

From  the  accompanying  paper,  you  see  what  periodical 
works  are  hereafter  to  come  into  our  house.  My  plan  is 
to  have  the  table  of  contents  of  each  number  copied,  and 
to  annex  a  short  review.  In  this  way,  at  the  expiration 
of  half  a  year,  we  shall  have  a  general  view  of  what  our 
cotemporaries  are  about. 

If  we  show  vigor  and  variety,  we  shall  soon  be  above 
them  all,  for  all  other  journals  carry  more  ballast  than 
merchandize  ;  and,  as  it  is  an  object  with  us  to  make  our 
labor  the  means  of  self-improvement,  only  good  can  there- 
by arise  and  be  effected. 

Many  thanks  for  the  copies  you  sent  of  the  Horen. 

Jacobi  begs  you  to  excuse  him  that  he  has  not  yet  sent 
anything. 

I  hope  that  good  weather  will  soon  permit  me  to  ride 
over  to  you,  for  I  long  much  for  a  conversation  with  you, 
and  to  see  your  recent  labors.  Commend  me  to  your 
friends. 

Weimar,  11th  March,  1795. 

G. 

LVIf. 

Last  week  I  became  animated  by  a  singular  impulse, 
which  fortunately  continues.  I  felt  a  strong  disposition  to 
finish  the  religious  book  of  my  Novel,  and  as  the  whole 
rests  on  the  noblest  illusions  and  on  the  most  delicate 
shiftings  between  the  objective  and  the  subjective,  it  requires 
a  more  favorable  mood  and  more  self-possession  than  per- 
haps any  other  part.    And  yet,  such  a  representation 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE, 


57 


would  have  been  impossible,  as  you  will  perceive  in  due 
time,  if  I  had  not  previously  made  the  studies  for  it  after 
nature.  Through  this  book,  which  I  hope  to  finish  before 
holy-week,  an  unexpected  progress  is  made  in  my  work, 
inasmuch  as  it  points  before  and  after,  and  at  the  same 
time  fixes  the  boundaries,  guides  and  carries  forward. 
The  Advocate  is  also  written  and  only  needs  to  be  revised  ; 
you  can  therefore  have  it  in  good  time. 

I  hope  that  nothing  will  prevent  me  f]?om  coming  to  you 
in  holy-week  and  remaining  with  you  some  weeks :  then 
we  shall  bring  about  some  good. 

I  am  very  anxious  to  see  what  you  have  been  doing : 
your  first  letters  we  have  read  again  in  print  with  pleasure. 

In  the  Weimar  public  the  Horen  are  making  a  great 
noise  ;  but  I  have  not  yet  heard  any  distinct  pro  or  contra. 
People  are  very  curious  about  it,  and  snatch  the  numbers 
out  of  one  another's  hands  ;  we  could  not  wish  more  for  a 
beginning. 

Mr.  Humboldt  must  have  been  very  diligent :  I  hope  too 
to  have  some  more  talk  with  him  about  anatomica.  I  have 
arranged  for  him  some  very  natural  and  very  interesting 
preparations.  Greet  him  and  the  ladies  for  me.  The 
Procurator  is  at  my  door.  Farewell,  and  love  me — it  will 
not  be  on  your  side  alone. 

Weimar,  18th  March,  1795. 

G. 

LVlll. 

Jena,  19th  March,  1795. 

About  the  picture  that  you  have  just  sketched  I  am  not 
a  little  curious.  It  must  flow  less  than  any  other  from 
your  individuality,  for  to  me  this  seems  to  be  the  cord 
which  in  you,  and  hardly  to  your  misfortune,  is  struck  the 

3* 


58 


CORRESPOXDENCE  BETWEEN' 


least  often.  The  more  curious  am  I  to  learn  how  you 
shall  have  mingled  this  heterogeneous  matter  with  your 
own  nature.  Religious  enthusiasm  does  and  can  find 
place  only  in  such  minds  as,  contemplatively  idle,  sink  into 
themselves,  and  nothing  seems  to  be  less  your  case  than 
this.  I  doubt  not  for  a  moment  that  your  representation 
will  be  true,  but  that  it  will  be  solely  through  the  force  of 
your  genius,  and  not  through  the  help  of  your  peculiar 
individual  feelings. 

For  some  time  I  have  neglected  my  philosophical  labors 
in  order  to  hasten  something  for  the  fourth  number  of  the 
Horen.  The  lot  fell  on  the  siege  of  Antwerp,  which  is 
already  very  well  advanced.  The  town  shall  have  surren- 
dered when  you  come.  It  is  only  since  I  have  been  at 
this  labor  that  I  discover  how  severe  my  previous  one 
was  ;  for,  without  being  at  all  negligent,  it  seems  to  me 
mere  play,  and  only  the  quantity  of  wretched  stuff  that  I 
must  read,  and  which  tasks  my  memory,  reminds  me  that 
I  am  at  work.  It  gives  me  too  but  a  meagre  enjoyment : 
I  hope,  however,  that  it  is  with  me  as  with  cooks,  who 
have  themselves  little  appetite,  but  excite  it  in  others. 

You  would  do  me  a  great  service,  if  you  could  send  me 
punctually  on  Monday  the  long  desired  Advocate.  I 
should  not  then  be  obliged  to  give  the  first  part  of  my 
piece  to  the  printer  before  the  end  was  written.  Should 
you,  however,  not  be  able  to  do  it,  I  beg  you  to  let  me 
know  as  early  as  Saturday.    I  hope  for  the  best. 

I  rejoice  that  you  intend  to  spend  Easter  with  us,  and  I 
am  much  in  want  of  a  lively  excitement  from  without,  from 
a  friendly  hand. 

Pray  greet  Meyer  warmly  for  me.  I  wish  that  he  may 
soon  be  able  to  give  us  something  more.  The  seal  for  the 
Horen  I  have  not  yet  received. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


59 


All  here  beg  to  be  remembered  by  you,  and  expect  you 
with  eagerness. 

SCH. 

LIX. 

P'oR  the  Advocate^  who  here  appears,  I  wish  a  good  recep- 
tion. 

Have  the  goodness  to  send  it  soon  back  to  me,  because 
I  wish  to  go  through  it  several  times  more  for  the  sake  of 
the  style. 

I  am  working  everything  out  of  the  way  that  might  hin- 
der me  from  soon  enjoying  and  instructing  myself  by  your 
side. 

Wkimau,  19lh  March,  17'J5. 

G. 

LX. 

Jena,  20th  March,  1795. 

I  THIS  morning  received  your  package,  which  agreea- 
bly surprised  me  in  every  respect.  One  reads  the  narra- 
tive with  uncommon  interest :  what  particularly  pleased 
me  was  the  denouement.  I  acknowledge  that  I  expected 
such  a  one,  and  could  not  have  been  satisfied,  if  you  had 
not  in  this  departed  from  the  original.  If  I  recollect  right, 
in  Boccaccio  it  is  only  the  timely  return  of  the  old  man 
that  decides  the  success  of  the  cure. 

If  you  could  send  me  back  the  manuscript  early  on 
Monday  you  would  much  oblige  me.  You  will  find  little 
more  to  do  to  it. 

ScH. 


60 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


LXI. 

I  WILL  send  you  the  manuscript  to-morrow  evening  by 
the  horse-post. 

On  Monday  the  end  of  the  fourth  book  will  be  despatch- 
ed to  Unger. 

Next  week  I  hope  to  get  through  all  I  have  yet  to  do, 
be  free,  and  go  over  to  see  you. 

I  wish  success  to  the  taking  of  Antwerp  :  it  will  have  a 
good  effect  in  the  Horen. 

Commend  me  to  your  friends.  Meyer  greets  you  :  he 
is  very  diligent  with  various  things.  I  hope  that  the  slow- 
coming  Spring  may  have  a  good  influence  on  you,  and  that 
between  this  and  the  anniversary  of  our  acquaintance  we 
shall  have  brought  about  a  good  deal  together. 

Weimar,  21st  March,  1795. 

G. 

LXII. 

Jena,  25th  March,  1795. 

I  RECEIVED  to-day  another  letter,  in  which  the  old  pro- 
posal from  Tiibingen  is  renewed,  with  the  addition  that  I 
shall  be  exempted  from  all  public  duties,  and  shall  have 
full  liberty  to  exercise  influence  on  the  students  in  what 
way  I  prefer,  &:c.  Now,  although  I  have  not  changed 
my  first  determination,  and  shall  not  easily  change  it, 
some  very  serious  reflections  in  regard  to  the  future 
have,  on  this  occasion,  forced  themselves  on  me, 
which  convince  me  of  the  necessity  of  securing  to 
myself  a  certainty,  in  case  increasing  ill-health  should 
arrest  my  literary  labors.  I  have  written  on  the  sub- 
ject to  Counsellor  Voigt,  and  begged  him  to  obtain  from 
the  Duke  an  assurance,  that  in  such  an  extremity  my  pay 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


61 


should  be  doubled.  Should  this  be  secured  to  me,  I  hope 
to  avail  myself  of  it  as  late  as  possible  or  never ;  but  I 
should  then  be  without  anxiety  about  the  future,  and  that 
is  all  that  I  can  require. 

As  you  might  hear  the  matter  spoken  of,  and  might  not 
know  at  first  what  to  make  of  it,  I  thought  I  would  explain 
it  to  you  in  a  few  words.  We  shall  anxiously  look  for 
you  next  Sunday. 

SCH. 

LXIII.  (a) 

Notwithstanding  I  had  some  idle  hours,  I  could  not 
yesterday  bring  myself  to  visit  you  once  more  and  take 
formal  leave  of  you.  I  left  Jena  very  unwillingly,  and 
thank  you  again  heartily  for  what  you  imparted  to  me  and 
shared  with  me.  Here  first  of  all  are  the  Elegies,  which  T 
beg  to  have  back  again  as  soon  as  possible  :  they  shall  then, 
after  being  divided  into  the  proper  number  of  lines,  be 
copied. 

For  the  Calendar  I  have  found  something,  particularly 
for  the  Messrs.  X.  Y.  Z.,  which  I  will  send  soon  with  the 
other  things.  Remind  me  often  of  what  you  want,  so  that 
my  good  will  may  show  itself  in  deed. 

Farewell,  and  greet  your  family  and  friends. 

Weimar,  3d  May,  1795. 

G. 

LXIII. 

Jena,  4th  May,  1795. 

I  have'  this  moment  received  the  Elegies  with  your 
friendly  lines.  I  have  missed  you  every  evening  since 
your  departure ;  one  gets  so  easily  accustomed  to  good. 
My  health  is  slowly  improving. 


62 


CORRESPOXDENCE  BETAVEEX 


I  wait  with  impatience  for  what  you  intend  to  send  me 
for  the  Almanac.  Until  I  get  it  I  cannot  make  an  esti- 
mate of  my  poetical  change  for  this  little  work. 

I  will  immediately  take  the  Elegies  in  hand,  and  hope  to 
send  them  back  to  you  on  Friday. 

Huber  writes  me  that  he  has  an  inclination  to  translate 
your  Meister  into  French.  Shall  I  endeavor  to  encourage 
him  to  do  it,  or  dissuade  him  from  it  ? 

You  may  depend  upon  my  aiding  your  memory. 

My  wife  commends  herself  to  your  friendly  remem- 
brance.   Greet  Meyer  for  me. 

SCH. 

LXIV. 

Weimar,  12th  March,  1795. 

The  package  with  the  Elegies  found  me  in  an  elegiac 
state  according  to  the  common  meaning — that  is,  in  a  very 
wretched  one.  After  the  fine  life  in  Jena,  where  in  addi- 
tion to  so  much  nourishment  for  the  soul  I  enjoyed  the 
warm  free  air,  the  cpld  weather  here  has  affected  me  most 
unfavorably ;  and  exposure  to  a  draught  of  air  for  several 
hours,  gave  me  a  catarrh-fever,  which  produced  a  violent 
pain  in  the  right  half  of  my  head  and  disabled  the  left.  I 
am  now  so  far  recovered  that  I  can,  without  pain,  go  to 
work  in  my  room,  to  bring  up  arrears. 

As  to  the  Elegies,  we  shall  be  obliged  to  leave  out  en- 
tirely the  second  and  sixteenth  ;  for  their  mutilated  appear- 
ance will  strike  every  one  strangely,  unless  something 
were  substituted  for  the  objectionable  passages,  to  do 
which  I  feel  myself  utterly  unfit.  They  will  have  to  be 
printed  one  after  the  other  just  as  they  come  ;  for  to  make 
each  one  begin  in  a  new  page  is  not  practicable,  count  and 
calculate  as  I  will.    With  the  number  of  lines  in  our  page, 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


63 


very  unsightly  spaces  would  occur  more  than  once.  But 
this  I  will  leave  to  you,  and  will  in  a  few  days  send  the 
manuscript.  The  second  volume  of  the  Novel  is  delayed 
somewhere  on  the  road.  I  ought  to  have  had  it  long 
since,  and  wished  herewith  to  send  it  to  you.  I  am  now 
on  the  fifth  book,  and  hope  by  Whitsuntide  to  have  little 
left  unfinished. 

Meyer*  is  very  diligent.  He  has  heretofore  done  capi- 
tal things ;  and  it  seems  to  me  that  he  improves  every 
day  in  thought  and  execution. 

Have  the  goodness  to  let  me  soon  hear  from  you  of  your 
health,  and  whether  anything  new  has  occurred.  Jacobi 
has  again  delayed  his  promise  through  Fritz  von  Stein. 

14th  May,  1795. 

This  letter  which  has  lain  by  me  for  some  days,  I  will 
at  least  not  keep  back  from  to-day's  post. 

Have  you  seen  thu  treatise  on  style  in  the  plastic  arts  in 
the  April  number  of  the  Mercury  ?  That  on  which  we 
are  all  agreed  is  very  well  said  ;  but,  that  the  writer 
should  assert,  that  genius,  which  exists  in  the  philosopher 
prior  to  all  experience,  does  not  pull  him  and  warn  him 
when  with  imperfect  experience  he  sits  down  to  prostitute 
himself.  Truly,  there  are  in  this  essay  passages  that  would 
not  be  unworthy  of  Rochow. 

Let  me  hear  soon  how  you  are. 

G. 

*  This  gentleman  is  the  author  ot  an  excellent  history  of  the 
fine  arts  with  engraved  illustrations. 


64 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


LXV. 

Jena,  15th  May,  1795. 

I  ONLY  heard  the  day  before  yesterday  that  you  were 
unwell.  It  must  fall  very  hard  on  one  who  is  so  little  ac- 
customed as  you  are  to  ill  health.  That  the  present 
weather  has  also  not  been  favorable  to  me,  is  so  much  a 
matter  of  course  that  I  need  not  speak  of  it. 

I  must  say,  that  I  am  very  unwilling  to  lose  the  whole 
two  Elegies.  I  had  thought  that  even  their  visible  incom- 
pleteness would  not  have  injured  them  in  the  estimation  of 
the  reader,  because  it  were  so  natural  to  attribute  it  to  a 
designed  modesty.  You  need  not,  however,  much  regret 
this  sacrifice,  which  the  bashfulness  required  in  a  journal 
causes,  as  in  a  few  years,  when  you  collect  the  Elegies 
together,  you  can  restore  all  that  is  now  stricken  out.  I 
am  anxious  to  have  them,  or  at  least  one  sheet  of  them, 
early  on  Monday,  in  order  to  send  them  off.  I  hope  at 
least  soon  to  finish  my  treatise,  if  no  particular  obstruction 
occurs. 

Cotta  is  tolerably  well  satisfied  with  the  Fair.  It  is  true, 
that  many  of  the  copies  which  he  sent  on  commission 
have  been  returned,  but  on  the  other  hand  as  many  have 
been  ordered,  so  that  upon  the  whole  the  estimate  does 
not  suffer  by  it.  Only  he  begs  urgently  for  greater  variety 
in  the  articles.  Many  complain  of  the  abstract  subjects, 
many  too  are  dissatisfied  with  your  discourses,  because,  as 
they  express  themselves,  they  cannot  yet  discover  whither 
they  tend.  You  see,  our  German  guests  do  not  belie 
themselves  ;  they  must  always  know  what  they  are  eating 
in  order  to  enjoy  the  taste  of  a  thing. 

I  had  a  conversation  recently  with  Humboldt  about  it ; 
it  is  utterly  impossible  at  the  present  time  to  obtain  gene- 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


65 


ral  success  in  Germany  with  any  production,  be  it  ever  so 
good  or  ever  so  bad.  The  pubUc  no  longer  has  the  unity 
of  taste  of  childhood,  and  still  less  the  unity  of  a 
finished  culture.  It  is  in  the  middle,  between  the 
two,  and  that  is  a  glorious  time  for  bad  writers,  but 
therefore  the  worse  for  such  as  do  not  wish  merely  to 
make  money. 

I  am  now  very  curious  to  hear  what  is  thought  of  your 
Meister — that  is,  what  the  public  spokesmen  say  ;  for 
that  the  public  is  divided  about  it,  follows  as  a  matter  of 
course. 

Of  news  here  I  have  none  to  tell ;  for  with  the  depart- 
ure of  friend  Fichte,  the  richest  source  of  absurdities  is 
dried  up.  Friend  Woltmann  has  sent  into  the  world 
another  of  his  unfortunate  progeny,  and  in  a  very  pre- 
sumptuous tone.  It  is  a  printed  plan  of  his  historical 
lectures — a  warning  bill  of  fare,  that  must  frighten  away 
even  the  most  hungry  customer. 

You  do  not  know  that  Schütz  has  been  ill  and  is  better. 

Your  contributions  to  the  Almanac  I  expect  with  great 
eagerness.    Herder,  too,  will  do  something  for  it. 

Reichardt  has  offered  himself  through  Hufeland  as  a 
contributor  to  the  Horen. 

Have  you  read  Voss's  Louise,  which  is  now  out  1  I  can 
send  it  to  you.  I  will  get  the  article  in  the  German 
Mercury. 

I  wish  Meyer  success  in  his  work.  All  here  greet  you 
heartily. 

ScH. 

P.  S.  Cotta  sends  me  only  thirteen  copies  of  the 
Horen.    T  think  that  I  have  to  send  you  three  of  them. 


66 


C  O  R  R  E  S  P  O  X  D  E  N"  C  E    B  E  T  Vv'  E  E  N 


LXVI. 

Before  my  package  is  sent  off  I  receiN-^e  yours,  and  will 
add  a  few  words. 

A  part  of  the  Elegies  will  be  despatched  to-morrow 
evening  by  the  horse-post.  I  am  very  anxious  that  no 
accident  may  interrupt  your  treatise.  For  the  seventh 
number  I  can  promise  you  nearly  two  sheets. 

Let  us  oidy  proceed  on  our  way  steadfastly  ;  we  know 
what  we  can  do  and  whom  we  have  before  us.  It  is  now 
twenty  years  that  I  am  acquainted  inwardly  and  outwardly 
with  the  buffoonery  of  authorship  :  it  must  only  be  played 
on  after  the  same  fashion — there's  nothing  else  to  be 
done. 

R.  is  not  to  be  rejected,  but  you  will  be  obliged  to  keep 
his  importunity  in  check. 

I  have  not  yet  seen  Louise  :  you  will  do  me  a  favor  by 
sending  it.  I  send  you  a  volume  of  Herder's  Terpsichore, 
which  I  beg  you  to  return  soon,  and  which  will  please 
you  much. 

My  illness  is  pretty  well  over.  I  had  already  made 
arrangements  to  visit  you  at  least  for  half  a  day  ;  but  now 
I  must  put  it  off  for  some  time.  The  rehearsals  of  Clau- 
dine  will  keep  me  here  the  next  fortnight. 

Farewell  and  greet  our  friends. 

In  the  Moniteur  it  is  set  down,  that  Germany  is  chiefly 
celebrated  for  Philosophy,  and  that  one  Mr.  Kanl  and  his 
pupil  Mr.  Fichte,  are  the  men  that  set  up  lights  for  the 
Germans. 

Weimar,  ICtli  May,  1795. 

G. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


67 


LXVII. 

Here  you  have,  at  last,  my  dear  friend,  the  second 
volume  of  Wilhelm.  I  wish  him  on  his  public  appearance 
the  continuance  of  your  favor.  I  am  trying  now  to  get  the 
fifth  book  in  order,  and  as  the  sixth  is  already  finished, 
I  hope  before  the  end  of  this  month  to  have  worked  my- 
self free  for  the  Summer.  I  hope  soon  to  hear  how  you 
are  getting  on. 

The  accompanying  copies  1  beg  you  to  distribute  ac- 
cording to  the  subscription.  Farewell. 

Weimar,  16th  May,  1705. 

G. 

LXXI. 

Jena,  21st  May,  1795. 

The  bearer  of  this,  Mr.  Michaelis  of  Strelitz,  is  the  pub- 
lisher of  my  Almanac  of  the  Muses.  If  you  can  give  him 
a  few  moments,  will  you  have  the  goodness  to  consult 
with  him  and  our  friend  Meyer,  whether  among  the  con- 
tributions which  you  design  for  the  Almanac  (including  the 
Epigrams)  there  be  not  something  suitable  for  vignettes, 
which  perhaps  Meyer  would  sketch  ?  Custom  requires 
this  kind  of  decoration,  and  here  I  have  no  material  for  it. 
If  you  have  among  your  small  poems,  ballads,  or  something 
of  the  same  nature,  they  would  be  the  best  for  the  purpose. 
The  Almanac  is  to  be  printed  by  Unger,  and  is  to  be  very 
elegant. 

I  sent  you,  through  Mr.  Gerning,  a  request  to  let  me 
know  when  Claudine  will  be  played,  in  order  if  possible 
to  be  present  at  the  representation,  or  to  give  my  wife  the 
pleasure  of  being.  But  she  will  probably  take  the  measles, 
and  so  the  whole  little  plan  will  be  defeated. 


68 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETAVEEN 


I  desire  much  to  see  you  here  soon  again. 

Michaelis  will  tell  you  that  in  his  region  there  is  brisk 
demand  for  your  Meister.  May  this  letter  find  you  in  the 
best  health. 

SCH. 

LXXIII. 

Here  is  half  of  the  fifth  book  :  it  makes  an  era  in  the 
Novel — therefore  I  send  it.  I  w4sh  it  a  good  reception. 
My  illness  has  changed  my  plan,  and  obliged  me  to  advance 
with  this  work.  Pardon  all  mistakes,  and  don't  forget  the 
lead  pencil.  When  you  and  Humboldt  shall  have  read  it, 
I  beg  to  have  it  back.  As  I  am  very  impatient  under 
bodily  suffering,  I  shall  go  to  Carlsbad,  which  formerly 
freed  me  for  a  long  time  from  attacks  like  this.  Farewell. 
You  shall  have  something  soon  for  the  Almanac,  also  for 
the  Horen.  I  am  curious  to  know  what  you  will  think  of 
an  idea  I  have,  to  enlarge  the  Jurisdiction  of  the  Horen, 
and  of  periodical  works  generally.  This  is  accompanied 
by  a  letter  from  a  co-laborer. 

May  you  be  in  health  and  not  obstructed  in  your  labors. 
How  is  Carl? 

Weimar,  11  th  June,  1795. 

G. 

LXXIV. 

Jena,  12th  June,  1795. 

That  you  have  been  again  unwell  I  have  heard  with 
heartfelt  regret  from  Mr.  Humboldt ;  and  that,  from  such  a 
cause,  you  are  about  to  leave  us  for  some  time,  I  deplore 
still  more.  You  were  in  so  animated  and  happy  an  activity, 
and  medicinal  water  is  a  bad  Hippocrene,  at  least  so  long 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


69 


as  it  is  drunk.  Meanwhile,  may  you  only  soon  be  able  io 
set  off,  in  order  that  you  may  return  to  us  the  sooner. 

Since  four  or  five  days  my  fever  has  left  me,  and  I  am 
now  quite  satisfied  with  my  health.  Would  that  I  were 
so  with  my  diligence  !  But  the  passing  from  one  kind  of 
labor  to  another  always  goes  hard  with  me,  and  now  the 
more  so,  as  I  am  to  spring  from  metaphysics  to  poetry. 
I  have  built  a  bridge  as  well  as  I  could  and  made  a  begin- 
ning with  a  rhymed  epistle,  at  the  top  of  which  is  written 
Poetry  of  Life,  and  which,  therefore,  as  you  see,  borders 
on  the  subject  I  have  left.  Could  you  come,  and  blow 
into  me  your  spirit  only  for  six  weeks,  and  only  so  much 
of  it  as  I  can  take  in,  I  should  be  rid  of  the  difficulty. 

That  is  a  glorious  fellow,  the  Hesperus,*  that  you  sent 
me  lately.  He  belongs  altogether  to  the  mongrel  class,  but 
is  still  not  without  imagination  and  humor,  and  has  often  a 
right  droll  idea,  so  that  he  is  pleasant  reading  for  the  long 
nights.    I  like  him  better  than  the  biographies. 

My  wife  is  better  and  Carl  is  doing  well.  When  you 
pass  through,  you  will  find  us,  I  hope,  all  improved. 

Remember  me  to  Meyer.    Farewell  and  get  well  soon. 

SCH. 

LXXV. 

Here  are  the  sketches  of  the  letters  we  spoke  of,  in 
which  there  will  be  much  to  retouch,  if  you  are  satisfied 
with  the  leading  ideas.  Such  essays  are  like  dice  in 
backgammon ;  there  is  produced  mostly  something  not 
expected,  but  still  something  must  be  produced.  Before 


•  A  novel,  by  Jean  Paul  F.  Richter. 


70 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


the  end  of  the  month  I  shall  not  go  from  this,  and  will 
leave  behind  for  you  for  the  seventh  number  the  usual 
quantity  of  the  conversations.  By  that  time  too  the  second 
half  of  the  fifth  book  will  be  copied,  and  thus  I  shall  have 
turned  adverse  circumstance  to  as  much  account  as  pos- 
sible for  my  labors.  Farewell  and  do  you  the  same.  I 
wish  success  to  the  Epistle. 

Weimar,  13th  June,  1795. 

G. 


LXXVI. 

Jena,  15th  June,  1795. 

The  fifth  book  of  Meister  I  have  read  with  downright 
intoxication,  and  wdth  one  undivided  feeling.  Even  in 
Meister  there  is  nothing  that  has  taken  such  powerful 
hold  on  me  and  borne  me  aAvay  so  involuntarily  in  its 
twirl.  Only  when  I  had  finished  it  did  my  mind  recover 
its  calmness.  When  I  reflect  through  what  simple  means 
you  have  produced  so  absorbing  an  interest,  my  astonish- 
ment is  still  increased.  Also  as  to  individual  parts,  I 
found  in  it  admirable  passages.  Meister's  justification 
against  Werner  of  his  adoption  of  a  theatrical  life,  this 
adoption  itself,  Serlo,  the  prompter,  Philina,  the  wild  night 
in  the  theatre,  &c.,  are  all  singularly  happy.  You  have 
turned  the  appearance  of  the  anonymous  ghost  to  such 
account,  that  I  know  not  what  to  say  of  it.  The  whole 
idea  is  among  the  happiest  that  I  know,  and  you  have 
known  how  to  drain  to  the  last  drop  the  interest  it  w^as 
susceptible  of.  At  the  conclusion,  indeed,  every  one  ex- 
pects to  see  the  ghost  at  the  table,  but  as  you  yourself 
allude  to  this  circumstance,  one  is  satisfied  that  there  must 
be  good  reasons  for  his  non-appearance.    As  to  who  the 


SCHILLER    AND  GOKTHE. 


71 


ghost  is,  there  will  be  as  many  conjectures  as  there  are 
persons  in  the  novel  who  by  possibility  might  have  played 
it.  The  majority  with  us  are  quite  certain  that  Marianne 
is  the  ghost,  or  at  least  in  league  with  it.  We  are  also 
disposed  to  regard  the  female  elf  who  gets  into  Meister's 
chamber,  as  one  and  the  same  person  as  the  ghost ;  on 
the  last  appearance  I,  however,  thought  of  Mignon,  who 
seems  on  that  evening  to  have  had  many  revealings  con- 
cerning her  sex.  You  perceive  from  this,  how  well  you 
have  succeeded  in  guarding  your  secret. 

The  only  thing  that  1  have  to  object  to  in  this  fifth  book 
is,  that  it  sometimes  struck  me  that  you  have  given  to  that 
portion  which  relates  exclusively  to  theatrical  life  more 
space  than  is  consistent  with  the  free  and  large  idea  of  the 
whole.  It  looks  occasionally  as  if  you  w'ere  writing  for 
players,  whereas  your  purpose  is  only  to  write  of  them. 
The  care  you  bestow^  upon  certain  little  details  of  this 
subject,  and  individual  excellences  of  the  art,  which,  al- 
though important  to  the  player  and  stage  manager,  are  not 
so  to  the  public,  give  to  your  representation  the  false  ap- 
pearance of  a  particular  design  ;  and  even  one  who  does 
not  infer  such  a  design,  might  accuse  you  of  being  too 
much  under  the  influence  of  a  private  preference  for  these 
subjects.  Could  you  conveniently  reduce  this  part  of  the 
work  into  narrower  bounds,  the  whole  would  certainly 
thereby  be  improved. 

Now,  a  few  words  about  your  letters  to  the  editor  of 
the  Haren.  It  has  occurred  to  me  before,  that  we  would 
do  well  to  open  in  the  Horen  a  critical  arena.  Articles  of  this 
character  would  give  at  once  additional  life  to  the  Journal  and 
excite  certain  interest  in  the  public.  Only  we  must  take 
care  not  to  let  the  sword  go  out  of  our  own  hands,  which 


72 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


Ave  should  do,  if  through  a  formal  invitation  we  yielded  to 
the  public  and  to  authors  a  decided  privilege.  What  we 
should  receive  from  the  public  would  assuredly  be  most 
contemptible,  and  we  know  by  experience  how  trouble- 
some authors  would  be.  My  plan  is,  to  make  the  attacks 
from  the  midst  of  our  own  circle  ;  and  then,  if  authors 
wished  to  defend  themselves  in  the  Hnren,  they  would 
have  to  submit  to  the  conditions  which,  we  chose  to  pre- 
scribe to  them.  My  advice,  therefore,  is,  that  we 
should  commence  at  once  with  doing  the  thing,  and  not 
with  a  proposal  about  it.  It  will  not  hurt  us  to  be  thought 
saucy  and  ferocious. 

What  would  you  say  if  I,  in  the  name  of  a  Mr.  X., 
made  complaint  against  the  author  of  Wilhelm  Meister, 
that  he  takes  so  much  pleasure  in  tarrying  among  players, 
and  in  his  novel  avoids  good  society  ?  (For  this  is  the 
general  objection  that  the  elegant  world  makes  to  Meister, 
and  it  were  not  superfluous,  and  not  uninteresting,  to  set 
people  right  on  this  point.)  If  you  are  disposed  to  reply, 
I  w'lW  fabricate  you  such  a  letter.. 

I  hope  that  your  health  is  improved.  May  heaven 
watch  over  your  occupations,  and  have  in  store  for  you 
many  more  hours  as  beautiful  as  those  were  in  which  you 
wrote  Meister. 

I  anxiously  look  for  the  contributions  to  the  Almanac, 
and  the  conversations  you  promise.    We  are  all  better. 

SCH.  [ 

LXXVII.  1 

Your  approbation  of  the  fifth  book  of  the  Novel  was  i 
very  welcome  to  me,  and  has  invigorated  me  for  the  labor  I 
that  is  still  before  me.    I  am  pleased  to  find  that  the  fan-  ; 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


73 


tastic  and  sportive  mysteries  have  their  effect,  and  that 
you  testify  in  favor  of  the  execution  of  the  concerted  situ- 
ations. The  more  willingly  have  I  availed  myself  of 
your  objections  relating  to  the  theoretic  practical  chat, 
and  have  put  the  shears  to  work  on  several  passages. 
Such  remains  of  the  early  execution  will  never  be  got 
entirely  rid  of,  notwithstanding  I  have  shortened  the  first 
manuscript  almost  one-third. 

With  respect  to  the  letters  to  the  editor,  and  your  plan 
in  connection  with  them,  we  shall  easily  come  to  an  agree- 
ment when  we  meet  and  can  talk  it  over.  I  shall  be  with 
you  about  the  end  of  next  week,  and  if  possible  bring 
with  me  the  promised  tale. 

On  Saturday,  I  will  send  Meyer's  treatise  on  Johann 
Bellini.  It  is  beautiful,  only,  alas  !  too  short.  Have  the 
goodness  to  send  back  to  us  the  Introduction,  which  you 
already  have,  because  there  is  something  to  be  added  to  it. 

I  am  glad  that  you  do  not  dislike  the  new  mongrel.* 
The  man  is  really  to  be  pitied  ;  he  appears  to  live  very 
isolated,  and  cannot,  therefore,  with  all  the  good  there  is 
in  him,  get  his  taste  purified.  Unfortunately  he  seems 
himself  to  be  the  best  company  he  keeps. 

I  think  of  devoting  the  four  weeks  in  Carlsbad  to  a  re- 
vision of  my  labors  in  Natural  History.  I  will  make  out 
a  synopsis  of  what  I  have  already  done,  and  what  I  must 
next  do,  in  order  to  have  a  framework  ready  for  scattered 
experiments  and  observations. 

What  do  you  say  to  a  work  from  which  I  have  had  the 
accompanying  passage  copied  for  you  ? 

Farewell,  and  greet  the  Humboldts  for  me. 

Weimar,  18th  June,  1795.  G. 
*  In  the  original,  Tragelaph. 
4 


74 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


LXXVIII. 

Jena,  19th  June,  179Ö. 

Here  is  the  Manuscript,  of  Meyer,  with  my  best  sahita- 
tion  to  him.  That  I  may  expect  something  from  him  so 
soon  is  very  gratifying.  ***** 

Tliat  you  deem  my  objections  relating  to  the  fifth  book 
worthy  of  your  attention,  gives  me  great  pleasure  and  new 
courage.  Together  with  the  affection  1  have  for  this  pro- 
duct of  your  genius,  I  am  full  of  jealousy  of  the  impres- 
sion it  makes  on  others,  and  I  could  not  be  good  friends 
with  him  who  should  not  know  how  to  prize  it. 

Out  of  w^hat  mad-house  you  can  have  snatched  the 
capital  fragment  I  know  not,  but  only  a  madman  can  so 
write.  Friend  Oberreit  might  have  w^ritten  it,  but  I  doubt 
that  he  did.    It  has  amused  me  much. 

The  Post  is  about  to  start.  I  rejoice  that  I  shall  see 
you  soon  again, 

SCH. 

LXXIX. 

A  TALE  for  the  Horen,  and  a  little  sheet  for  the  Almanac, 
may  serve  as  my  forerunners.  Monday  I  shall  be  with 
you,  and  we  shall  have  much  to  talk  over.  Voss  greets 
you,  and  offers  an  antiquarian  treatise  on  the  groves  of  the 
gods,  and,  at  any  rate,  a  piece  of  ancient  Geography. 

Herder  promises  very  soon  something  on  Homer.  It 
would  be  Avell  if  Jacobi  should  send  something. 

I  am  anxious  to  see  what  you  have  been  at  work  on. 

Give  my  respects  to  your  dear  ladies,  and  to  the  Hum- 
boldts.   I  am  rejoiced  that  I  shall  see  you  again. 

Weim.vr,  27th  June,  1795. 

G. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


75 


LXXX. 

Jena,  6th  July,  1795. 

I  AM  SO  busy  to-day  with  despatching  the  Horen^  that  I 
have  only  a  few  moments  to  congratulate  you  on  your 
arrival  in  Carlsbad,  which  I  hope  has  taken  place  happily. 
I  rejoice  that  of  the  thirty  days  of  your  absence  I  can 
already  wipe  off  four. 

From  Fichte  I  have  received  a  letter,  in  which,  while 
he  points  out  very  sharply  the  injustice  I  have  done  him, 
he  is  very  careful  not  to  break  with  me.  With  all  his 
visible  irritation  he  has  controlled  himself,  and  labors  to 
play  the  reasonable.  That  he  accuses  me  of  having  en- 
tirely misunderstood  his  work,  follows  as  a  matter  of 
course.  But  that  I  accused  him  of  confusion  of  ideas  on 
his  subject,  this  is  what  he  has  scarcely  been  able  to  for- 
give me.  He  will  send  me  his  treatise  to  read  as  soon  as 
it  is  finished,  and  he  expects  that  I  will  then  retract  my 
hasty  judgment.  Thus  do  matters  stand,  and  I  must  do 
him  the  justice  to  say,  that  he  has  conducted  himself  very 
well  in  this  critical  situation.  You  shall  read  his  letter 
when  you  return. 

Of  news  here  I  have  nothing  to  write,  except  that  the 
daughter  of  Schütz  is  dead,  and  that  he  himself  is  tole- 
rable. 

Woltmann,  who  paid  me  a  visit  a  few  days  since,  as- 
sured me  that  it  was  not  Fichte,  but  a  certain  F.  (a  young 
painter  who  studied  here,  and  also  writes  poetry  and 
travelled  sometimes  with  B.)  is  the  author  of  the  treatise 
in  the  Mercury  on  Style  in  the  plastic  arts.  B.  himself 
related  this,  and  declared  in  addition,  that  this  treatise  is 
the  most  sublime  thing  that  ever  has  been  written  on  the 
subject.    I  hope  therefore  that  you  will  in  your  heart  ask 


76 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


pardon  of  the  great  I*  in  Osmanstädt,  and  take  at  least 
this  sin  from  his  head. 

Woltmann  told  me  that  he  has  commenced  a  novel, 
which  I  cannot  make  agree  with  his  other  historical  ac- 
tivity. 

I  have  yet  heard  nothing  from  Humboldt.  I  wish  from 
my  heart  that  your  stay  in  Carlsbad  may  be  serviceable 
to  your  health  and  to  the  work  you  took  with  you.  If  you 
should  have  an  opportunity  of  sending  me  the  rest  of  the 
fifth  book,  you  would  give  me  much  pleasure. 

I  have  sent  off  two  copies  of  the  Horen  according  to 
your  instructions. 

My  wife  sends  her  respects  to  you.  Farewell,  and 
hold  us  in  friendly  remembrance. 

SCH. 

LXXXI. 

I  WILL  not  lose  the  opportunity  of  sending  you  this 
letter  by  Miss  Göchhausen.  After  overcoming  tolerable 
and  bad  roads,  I  arrived  on  the  fourth  evening ;  until  to- 
day the  weather  has  been  very  bad,  and  now  the  first  ray 
of  sun  seems  to  be  only  transient.  The  company  is  nu- 
merous and  good :  there  is  the  common  complaint  of  want 
of  harmony,  and  each  one  lives  after  his  own  fashion. 
As  yet,  I  have  only  seen  and  talked  ;  what  will  yet  come 
to  pass  and  prosper,  must  be  waited  for.  At  all  events,  I 
have  at  once  commenced  weaving  a  little  novel,  which  is 
very  necessary  to  entice  one  out  of  bed  in  the  morning 
at  five  o'clock.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  I  shall  bQ  able 
so  to  temper  the  sentiments,  and  guide  the  incidents,  as  to 
make  it  last  a  fortnight. 


*  Fichte. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


77 


As  famous  author,  I  have  been  right  well  received,  and 
in  this  character  have  been  the  subject  of  some  strange 
mistakes  ;  for  instance,  a  most  charming  little  woman  told 
me  she  had  read  my  last  works  with  the  greatest  pleasure, 
and  particularly  had  Ardinghello  interested  her  beyond 
measure.  You  can  imagine  that  I  with  the  greatest  mo- 
desty enveloped  myself  in  friend  Heinse's  mantle,  and 
could  thus  put  myself  on  a  more  confidential  footing  with 
my  fair  patroness.  And  I  need  not  fear  that  in  these 
three  weeks  she  will  detect  the  blunder. 

I  become  by  degrees  acquainted  with  the  various  peo- 
ple, among  whom  there  are  some  very  interesting,  and 
shall  have  much  to  relate  to  you. 

On  the  journey  hither,  I  thought  over  several  old  tales, 
and  a  variety  of  things  passed  through  my  head  as  to  the 
manner  of  treating  them.  I  will  one  of  these  days  write 
one  out,  in  order  that  we  may  have  a  text  before  us. 
Farewell,  and  think  of  me. 

Carlsbad,  8th  July,  1795. 

G.  ' 

LXXXII. 

•  Carlsbad,  19th  July,  1795. 

Your  valued  letter  of  the  6th  I  did  not  receive  until 
the  17th:  how  I  thank  you,  that  in  the  whirlpool  of  a 
perfectly  strange  world  you  let  me  hear  the  sound  of  a 
friendly  voice.  Miss  Beulwitz  takes  this  with  her  :  I 
hope  it  will  reach  you  soon. 

The  effect  of  the  water  is  very  good,  but  I  lead  the  life 
of  a  genuine  watering-place  visitor,  and  pass  my  days  in 
absolute  idleness,  am  constantly  among  the  company, 
where  there  is  no  want  of  pleasant  conversation  and  little 
adventures.    I  shall  have  many  things  to  tell  of. 


78 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


On  the  other  hand,  however,  neither  is  the  fifth  book  of 
the  Novel  copied,  nor  a  single  epigram  achieved,  and  if 
the  other  half  of  ray  stay  here  is  like  the  first,  I  shall 
return  poor  in  good  works. 

I  was  very  glad  to  hear  that  the  Osmanstädtan  /  has 
behaved  well,  and  that  no  breach  has  followed  your  expla- 
nation :  perhaps  he  will  learn  by  and  by  to  bear  contra- 
diction. 

To  me  too  has  the  sublime  treatise  F.  in  the  Mercury 
been  praised  by  B.,  and  the  name  of  the  author  revealed. 
Tt  is  but  too  true  that  this  spirit  of  presumptuous  halfness 
stalks  in  Rome  too,  and  our  friends  there  will  become 
better  acquainted  with  the  three  styles.  What  a  strange 
mixture  of  self-delusion  and  clearness  do  these  people 
require  for  their  existence,  and  what  a  terminology  has 
this  circle  created  for  itself,  in  order  to  appropriate  that 
which  does  not  become  them,  and  to  set  up  as  the  serpent 
of  Moses  that  which  they  do  possess  ! 

But  of  all  this  more  fully  when  I  get  back.  My  fingers 
are  stiff  and  cold  :  the  weather  is  vile,  and  everybody  un- 
comfortable. 

Live  you  the  better,  and  warmer,  and  think  of  ftie. 

G. 

LXXXIII. 

Jena,  20th  July,  1795. 

That  for  the  last  twelve  days  I  have  been  ill,  and 
thereby  prevented  from  giving  you  any  account  of  myself, 
my  wife  has  written  you.  I  hope  you  have  received  her 
letter,  and  one  from  me,  which  left  this  four  days  after  you. 

Yours  has  given  me  much  pleasure,  and  I  hope  that  the 
Heinsian  mask  may  bring  you  many  pleasant  adventures. 


schiij.e;r  a.vd  goetiie. 


79 


It  is  weil  to  find  oneself  well  received  by  ladies  under 
such  a  firm,  for  then  the  greatest  difficulty  is  overcome. 

I  am  impatient  to  hear  what  progress  you  have  made  in 
your  health  and  your  occupations.  What  I  hear  of  the 
Centaur  sounds  very  well.  Everybody  is  delighted  with 
the  Elegies,  and  no  one  thinks  of  being  scandalized  by 
them.  But  the  most  formidable  tribunals  have  not  yet 
spoken.  I,  too,  have  my  portion  of  praise  for  my  share 
in  the  Centaur — indeed,  I  am  even  more  fortunate  than 
you,  for  scarcely  eight  days  after  the  appearance  of  this 
number,  I  received  from  a  Leipzig  author  a  formal  poem 
in  my  praise. 

In  the  meantime,  two  new  articles,  from  places  whence 
I  expected  nothing,  have  been  sent  in  for  the  Horen.  The 
one  treats  of  Grecian  and  Gothic  architecture,  and  under 
a  tolerably  careless  style,  and  with  much  that  is  unimport- 
ant, contains  many  good  ideas.  After  a  long  deliberation 
whether  I  should  accept  it,  the  novelty  and  suitableness  of 
the  subject  for  the  Journal  determined  me  to  do  so,  par- 
ticularly as  it  is  not  long.  The  second,  making  scarcely 
a  sheet,  investigates  the  notions  of  the  ancients  on  Des- 
tiny. It  is  by  a  man  of  superior  talents,  and  a  keen 
thinker,  and  I  shall  therefore  make  use  of  it  without  hesi- 
tation.   I  received  it  only  an  hour  since. 

Jacobi  has  at  last  sent  in  his  Essay.  It  is  full  of  excel- 
lent matter,  particularly  on  impartiality  in  judging  of  the 
modes  of  representation  of  others,  and  breathes  through- 
out a  liberal  Philosophy.  I  cannot  define  its  subject. 
Under  the  title — Occasional  Outpourings  of  a  Solitary 
Thinker  (in  letters  to  Ernestine),  a  variety  of  things  are 
treated  of. 

From  Herder  I  have  received  neither  manuscript  nor 


80 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


intelligence  for  many  weeks.  Humboldt  is  arrived  safe, 
but  found  his  mother  ill. 

My  poetical  labors  advance  very  slowly,  as  I  have  been 
for  whole  weeks  unfit  for  any  kind  of  work.  You  will, 
however,  find  something  when  you  come. 

Farewell,  and  may  heaven  bring  you  back  in  health 
and  spirits. 

SCH. 

LXXXIV. 

A  LETTER  can  arrive  sooner  than  myself,  therefore  will  I 
thank  you  for  your  last.  Your  first  letter  was  twelve 
days  on  the  road,  the  second  five,  and  the  last  seven  ;  so 
irregular  is  the  Post. 

I  am  sorry  to  learn  that  in  the  meantime  you  have  left 
off  work  from  necessity.  I  have  continued  the  life  I 
began,  lived  only  in  company,  and  been  very  well  content. 
One  might  travel  a  hundred  miles  without  seeing  so  many 
people  and  so  closely.  No  one  is  at  home  ;  hence,  every 
one  is  more  accessible,  and  the  more  disposed  to  show  his 
best  side.  The  fifth  book  is  copied,  and  the  sixth  can  be 
ready  in  a  few  days.  Little  has  been  done  at  the  Epi- 
grams, and  nothing  at  anything  else. 

I  congratulate  you  on  the  new  contributions,  and  am 
curious  to  read  them. 

About  you  I  am  much  questioned,  and  I  answer  according 
as  the  question  is.  Generally,  the  public  has  only  a  most 
obscure  idea  of  the  author.  One  hears  nothing  but  old 
opinions  :  of  his  development  and  progress  very  few  take 
any  note.  I  must,  however,  be  just,  and  say  that  I  have 
met  with  some  who  are  in  this  respect  remarkable  excep- 
tions. 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


81 


The  sixth  number  of  the  Horen  has  not  yet  penetrated 
into  these  mountains. 

Farewell :  greet  your  dear  wife  from  me. 

Carlsbad,  29th  July,  1795. 

G. 

LXXXV. 

Expectation  continues  to  rise,  but  yet  one  sees  alrea- 
dy from  a  distance  that  the  forest  begins  to  grow  brighter 
with  light.  The  mention  of  the  Marianne  has  a  fine 
effect,  and  Mignon  grows  with  each  book.  The  gloomy 
Harper  gets  ever  gloomier  and  more  mysterious,  and 
Philine  pleases  me  as  much  as  ever.  It  is  delightful  how 
in  this  book  you  recall  to  mind  past  persons  and  scenes. 

Much  attention  is  to  be  recommended  on  account  of 
the  many  names  of  authors,  also  on  account  of  some  irre- 
gularities in  the  manner  of  writing  (sometimes  des  Publi' 
cumSf  sometimes  des  Publici,  &c.).  In  the  poem  at  the 
end,  you  have  used  a  word  long,  which  by  position  is 
necessarily  short,  and  a  verb  short  that  must  remain  long. 

Pardon  my  scrawl.  I  must  hurry,  in  order  not  to  detain 
the  manuscript  longer. 

I  hope  soon  to  hear  from  you  again,  and  wish  you  joy 
on  your  arrival  at  Weimar. 

My  friendly  salutation  to  Meyer. 

SCH. 

LXXXVI.  \ 

Here  I  send  you  at  last  the  collection  of  Epigrams,  on 
single  sheets,  numbered,  and  for  the  sake  of  method,  with 
an  index  annexed :  for  several  reasons  I  do  not  wish  my 
name  to  appear  on  the  title.  In  the  motto  I  think  it  advi- 
sable to  point  to  antiquity. 

4* 


82 


CORRESPOXDENCE  BETV/EEN 


In  the  arrangement  of  them  I  have  placed  those  which 
belong  together  in  succession,  and  sought  also  to  produce 
a  certain  gradation  and  variety  ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  in 
order  to  avoid  all  stiffness,  I  have  intermingled  in  the  fore- 
part under  the  Venetian  head,  forerunners  of  the  other 
kinds.  Some  which  you  have  run  your  pen  through,  I 
have  endeavored  to  make  acceptable  by  modification.  No. 
78  I  wish  (however  unimportant  it  is)  kept  in  the  place  it 
is,  in  order  to  irritate  and  vex  the  school,  which,  as  I  hear, 
triumphs  at  my  silence.  If  you  meet  with  anything  else 
to  object  to,  let  me  know,  if  there  is  time,  and  if  not,  cor- 
rect it  yourself  without  hesitation. 

I  wish  to  have  a  few  extra  copies  of  this  little  book  to 
lay  them  by  for  use  in  a  future  edition. 

Will  you  give  a  particular  charge  on  the  score  of  mis- 
prints :  some  very  ugly  ones  have  crept  into  the  Elegies. 

So  soon  as  the  Almanac  is  published,  I  could  make 
short  notes  for  the  Elegies  and  Epigrams,  in  which  the 
mistakes  of  the  press  should  be  mentioned,  and  insert 
them  as  an  article  in  the  Horen,  which  might  serve  more 
than  one  good  purpose  :  how  easy  it  would  be  to  refer  in 
a  few  words  at  the  end  of  the  title  book  to  these  really 
indispensable  notes. 

I  send  this  package  by  a  messenger,  in  order  that  it  may 
reach  you  as  soon  as  possible,  and  in  order  that  I  may  get 
back  the  Novel  which  I  must  not  delay  any  longer. 

I  foresee  that  I  shall  have  to  go  to  Ilmenau  the  begin- 
ning of  September,  and  that  I  shall  not  get  away  from 
there  for  ten  or  fourteen  days :  between  this  and  then  I 
have  much  to  do,  and  1  should  like  to  know  from  you, 
what  you  want  for  the  Hoven.  I  think  I  could  furnish 
you  as  follows  : 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


83 


August — Conversations,  conclusion  of  the  last  story. 
Hymn,  which  I  wish  you  to  send  back  to  me  for  this  pur- 
pose. 

September — Drama  and  Novel.  The  little  tale.  With 
this  I  would  close  the  Conversations,  and  it  were  perhaps 
well  if,  though  a  product  of  the  imagination,  they  were 
projected  into  the  Infinite. 

October — Continuation  of  the  tale.  Notes  to  the  Ele- 
gies and  Epigrams. 

November  and  December — Announcement  of  Cellini,  and, 
if  possible,  something  from  Faust. 

As  to  this  last,  it  is  with  me  as  with  a  powder  that  set- 
tles down  after  its  solution  in  a  liquid ;  so  long  as  you  stir 
it,  it  seems  to  unite  again,  but  the  moment  I  place  it  before 
me,  it  settles  by  degrees  to  the  bottom. 

Write  me  before  all  else  how  you  are  and  how  your 
labors  go  on,  and  farewell. 

Weimar,  ITth  August,  1795. 

G. 

LXXXVII, 

Jkna,  lüth  August,  1795. 

I  TOOK  your  late  promise  literally,  and  counted  with 
certainty  on  seeing  you  here  to-morrow  :  this  is  the  reason 
why  I  kept  Meister  so  long,  and  wrote  you  nothing  con- 
cerning  it.  I  could  have  wished  very  much  to  talk  with 
you  about  it,  because  in  a  letter  one  does  not  think  of 
everything,  and  for  such  things  dialogue  is  indispensable. 
It  seems  to  me  that  you  could  not  have  seized  the  subject 
from  a  more  happy  side  than  you  have  done  in  the  manner 
in  which  you  unfold  internally  the  silent  communion 
between  the  human  and  the  holy.    This  relation  is  tender 


84 


CORRESPOXDEXCE  BETWEEN 


and  delicate,  and  the  course  you  make  it  take  is  exceed- 
ingly accordant  with  nature. 

The  transition  from  Religion  generally  to  the  Christian, 
through  the  experience  of  sin,  is  a  masterly  conception. 
The  leading  ideas  of  the  whole  are  admirable,  only,  I  fear, 
somewhat  too  gently  indicated.  Nor  am  I  sure  that  to 
many  readers  the  story  will  not  seem  to  stand  still.  Per- 
haps it  would  have  been  well  had  several  parts  been 
drawn  a  little  nearer  together,  others  compressed,  on  the 
other  hand,  some  leading  ideas  more  expanded.  Your 
endeavor  to  purify  your  subject  and  as  it  were  restore  it  to 
honor,  by  avoiding  the  trivial  phraseology  of  devotion,  did 
not  escape  me  ;  but,  nevertheless,  I  have  marked  some 
passages  which,  I  fear,  a  Christian  spirit  might  reprehend 
as  being  treated  with  too  much  levity. 

These  few  words  on  what  you  have  said  and  intimated. 
This  subject,  however,  is  of  such  a  nature,  that  one  is 
tempted  to  speak  of  that  which  is  not  said.  True,  this 
book  is  not  finished,  and  therefore  I  do  not  know  what  may 
yet  follow  ;  nevertheless,  the  appearance  of  the  Uncle, 
with  his  sound  reason,  seems  to  me  to  bring  on  a  crisis. 
If  this  is  so,  then  the  subject,  I  think,  is  concluded  too 
quickly  :  for  it  seems  to  me,  that  too  little  is  said  of  the 
Christian  Religion  proper  and  the  Christian  Religion's 
enthusiasm  ;  that  that  which  this  religion  may  be  to  a  fine 
spirit,  or  rather  what  a  fine  spirit  can  make  out  of  it,  is 
not  sufficiently  set  forth.  I  find  in  the  Christian  religion 
virtually  the  foundation  of  the  highest  and  noblest ;  and  the 
various  manifestations  of  the  same  in  life,  appear  to  me 
only  therefore  so  repugnant  and  insipid,  because  they  are 
failed  representations  of  this  highest.  If  we  confine  our- 
seWes  to  the  peculiar  characteristic  of  Christianity,  which 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


85 


distinguishes  it  from  all  monotheistic  Religions,  it  consists 
in  nothing  else  than  the  Abrogation  of  the  Law  (the  Kan- 
tean  imperative),  in  the  place  of  which  Christianity  arises 
to  establish  a  free  will.  It  is,  therefore,  in  its  pure  form, 
the  exhibition  of  beautiful  morality,  or  the  embodying  in 
man  of  the  holy,  and  in  this  sense  the  only  cesthetic  Reli- 
gion ;  thence,  too,  I  explain  to  myself  why  this  Religion 
has  had  success  with  female  nature,  and  only  in  women  is 
met  with  still  in  a  bearable  form.  But  I  will  not  in  a  letter 
say  more  on  this  delicate  subject,  and  only  add,  that  I 
should  have  liked  to  hear  this  cord  sounded  a  little. 

Your  wishes  respecting  the  Epigrams  shall  be  minutely 
conformed  to.  The  misprints  in  the  Elegies  vexed  me  too 
very  much,  and  I  had  the  most  important  of  them  immedi- 
ately pointed  out  in  the  intelligence-sheet  of  the  Literary 
Gazette :  they  are,  however,  mistakes  of  the  copier,  and 
not  of  the  compositor,  and  therefore  will  be  the  more  easily 
guarded  against  in  future. 

By  the  performance  of  what  you  promise  for  the  remain- 
ing months  of  the  Horen,  you  will  gratify  me  greatly,  and 
I  again  repeat  my  petition  concerning  Faust.  Let  it  be, 
too,  only  a  scene  of  two  or  three  pages.  The  tale  will 
give  hearty  pleasure,  and  'the  Conversations  for  this  year 
conclude  very  well. 

I  have  not  been  better  in  body  this  week,  but  neverthe- 
less have  been  in  a  mood  to  write  some  small  poems, 
which  will  increase  my  collection. 

Farewell — I  long  to  see  you  and  our  friend  Meyer. 

SCH. 


86 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


LXXXIX. 

To  the  Hymn,  which  I  send  herewith,  I  have  done  as 
much  as  the  shortness  of  the  time  will  permit.  The  end 
of  the  narration  and  the  transition  to  the  tale  I  will  send 
over  as  soon  as  possible,  but  I  do  not  think  that  it  will 
make  one  printed  sheet.  For  the  tale  itself  I  feel  in  a 
good  mood  ;  it  amuses  me,  and  will  therefore  probably  be 
amusing  to  others  too. 

Your  testimony  that  with  my  seventh  book  I  have  at 
least  passed  the  rocks  safely,  is  of  great  value  to  me,  and 
your  further  remarks  on  the  subject  have  very  much  grati- 
fied and  encouraged  me.  As  the  heroine  of  the  sixth 
book  derives  from  the  appearance  of  the  Uncle  only  so 
much  as  suits  her,  and  as  it  is  only  in  the  eighth  book,  in 
another  generation,  that  I  exhibit  the  Christian  Religion 
in  its  present  sense,  and  as  I  agree  fully  with  what  you 
write  of  it,  therefore,  you  will  in  the  end  find  nothing  want- 
ing, particularly  if  we  talk  the  matter  over  once  more 
together. 

It  is  true  that  I  have  entered  this  field  with  a  very  gen- 
tle step,  and,  by  avoiding  every  kind  of  dogmatizing,  and 
completely  concealing  my  purpose,  have  perhaps  some- 
what weakened  the  eff'ect  on  the  great  mass  of  the  public. 
It  is  difiicult  in  such  cases  to  keep  the  middle  way. 

Farewell — ]^Ieyer  greets  you.    More  soon. 

Weimar,  18lh  August,  1T95. 

G. 

xc. 

My  present  contribution  turns  out  to  be  rather  a  spring 
than  an  easy  transition  from  common  life  to  a  tale  of  won- 
der.   You  must  make  the  most  of  it. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


87 


Herder's  Homer,  which  I  have  just  read  with  Meyer,  is 
I      excellent,  and  will  give  lustre  to  the  Horen.    I  will  see 
that  you  get  it  to-morrow  by  the  carrier  woman.    You  will 
receive  the  first  part  of  the  tale  before  the  end  of  the  month. 
Farewell, 

Weimar,  2lst  August,  1795. 

G. 

XCI. 

Friday  Evening,  22d  August. 

I  RECOLLECT  once  about  seven  years  ago,  sitting  in 
Weimar  with  all  my  money  spent,  except  about  two  Grosch- 
I  en,*  and  not  knowing  whence  any  more  was  to  come. 
In  this  extremity,  think  of  my  delightful  surprise  on 
receiving,  that  very  day,  a  long  forgotten  debt  of  the  Lite- 
rary Gazette.  'Twas  indeed  the  finger  of  Providence, 
and  so  was  too  your  to-day's  package.  I  knew  not  what 
I  could  send  to  Cotta,  who  wants  copy  for  the  ninth  num- 
ber ;  and  you,  like  a  messenger  from  Heaven,  send  me, 
only  it  is  true  about  half  a  sheet,  but  yet  enough,  with  the 
Apollo,  to  make  a  whole  one. 

I  shall  scarcely  have  time  to  read  this  manuscript, 
although  I  shall  look  through  it  carefully  in  regard  to 
orthography. 

I  rejoice  at  your  account  of  the  tale,  for  it  seems  to  meto 
come  into  the  world  under  good  auspices. 

Herder's  treatise  will  be,  too,  a  most  agreeable  appari- 
tion to  me. 

Humboldt  greets  you.  I  shall  have  all  kinds  of  curious 
things  to  tell  you  about  the  Horen  and  something  about 
Meister,  when  you  come  over,  which  I  beg  you  to  do  soon. 
Farewell, 

S. 

*  A  Groschen  is  about  two  cents. 

I 


88 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


xcm. 

To-morrow  morning  I  go  with  Councillor  Voigt  to 
Ilmenau,  and  would  be  happy  in  my  rovings,  if  I  could 
think  that  I  left  you  well  and  not  hindered  in  so  much 
good  by  sickness.  Meyer  greets  you.  I  am  anxious  to 
hear  that  the  tale  has  in  the  end  made  a  good  impression 
upon  you,  and  removed  the  first  unfavorable  one.  When 
I  say  to  you  farewell,  it  means  always — make  use  as  here- 
tofore of  favorable  hours  for  our  enjoyment. 

Weimar,  24th  August,  1795. 

G. 

XCIV. 

From  social,  idle  Carlsbad,  I  could  not  have  passed  to  a 
more  opposite  existence  than  that  up  in  secluded  Ilmenau. 
The  few  days  I  have  been  here  have  flown  very  rapidly, 
and  I  must  remain  here  eight  days  longer,  if  I  wish  to  un- 
derstand the  affairs  as  well  as  is  desirable.  I  always  liked 
to  be  here  and  do  so  still ;  I  believe  it  is  because  of  the 
harmony  of  everything  ;  region,  men,  climate,  occupations. 
A  quiet,  moderate,  frugal  endeavor,  and  everywhere  the 
union  of  handicraft  with  machinery,  and,  notwithstanding 
its  isolation,  a  greater  intercourse  with  the  world  than 
many  a  little  city  in  a  level  accessible  country.  Thus  far 
I  have  not  had  an  idea  but  what  related  to  the  place ;  it 
was,  however,  necessary  that  I  should  get  this  business  off 
my  mind  before  the  winter.  Fare  you  well  in  other 
regions,  and  think  of  me. 

Ilmenau,  29th  August,  1795. 

G. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


89 


XC  V, 

Jena,  29th  August,  1795. 

The  tale  is  variegated  and  lively,  and  I  find  very  well 
put  in  practice  the  idea  you  once  mentioned — "  the  mutual 
aid  given  by  the  faculties  and  the  referring  back  of  one  to 
the  other."  My  v^ife  is  much  pleased  with  it ;  she  finds  it 
in  the  Voltaire  style,  and  in  this  I  think  she's  right.  For 
the  rest,  by  your  manner  of  treating  it,  you  have  laid  on 
yourself  the  obligation  of  making  everything  symbolical. 
One  cannot  refrain  oneself  from  seeking  a  meaning  in 
everything.  The  four  kings  made  a  fine  show,  and  the  ser- 
pent as  a  bridge  is  a  charming  figure.  Very  characteristic 
is  the  beautiful  lily  with  its  pug-dog.  The  whole  presents 
itself  as  the  production  of  a  gay  mood.  Yet  I  could  have 
wished  that  the  end  were  not  separated  from  the  begin- 
ning, because  both  halves  have  so  much  need  of  one  an- 
other. If,  therefore,  it  is  the  same  to  you,  whether  it 
appears  in  one  or  divided,  I  will  begin  the  next  number 
with  it.  I  can  fortunately  make  out  for  the  ninth,  and  then, 
if  the  tale  goes  into  the  tenth  number  entire,  it  will  be  the 
more  welcome. 

The  conclusion  is  wanting  to  the  epigram  which  I  send 
herewith.  Be  so  good  as  to  send  it  back  to  me  by  the 
earliest  opportunity.  My  health  is  not  yet  much  better. 
I  fear  I  must  pay  for  the  lively  excitement  into  which  my 
poetizing  put  me.  For  i)hilosophizing,  the  half  of  the 
man  is  sufficient,  and  the  other  half  can  repose  ;  but  the 
Muses  suck  one  out. 

Take  my  heartfelt  greeting  for  your  birth-day. 

SCH. 

P.S.  I  have  not  yet  sent  a  copy  of  the  eighth  number 
to  the  Duke.    Be  so  good  as  to  attend  to  it. 

If  you  wish  to  write  to  Humboldt,  I  can  enclose  the 
letter. 


90 


CORK  KSrüX  DEN  CE  BETWEEN 


XCIX. 

Jkna,  9th  September,  1795. 

We  wish  you  joy  on  your  return  to  Weimar.  Why  can 
I  not  share  with  you  these  little  changes  which  strengthen 
the  body  and  soul ! 

The  tale  will  now  have  to  be  deferred  to  the  tenth  num- 
ber, as  during  the  time  that  I  was  waiting  for  your  deter- 
mination, I  was  obliged  to  send  the  best  of  my  treatises 
for  the  ninth.  It  is  also  the  more  needed  for  the  tenth, 
because  I  have  not  yet  any  brilliant  prospect  for  it :  and 
if  you  still  wish  it  divided,  the  conclusion  can  follow  in 
the  eleventh.  But  I  am  never  in  favor  of  separating  where 
this  can  possibly  be  avoided,  because  we  cannot  so  fix  the 
attention  of  the  public,  Uiat  it  will  take  into  view  the  whole 
of  a  thing,  and  thereafter  form  its  judgment. 

If  the  sixth  book  of  Meister  is  finished,  can  you  not 
think  of  something  more  for  one  of  the  last  numbers  of  the 
Horcn  ?  We  must  now  put  out  all  our  sail,  for  I  know 
from  several  places,  also  from  Cotta's  letters,  that  we  are 
by  no  means  sure  of  retaining  all  our  subscribers  for  the 
next  year. 

For  the  ninth  number  I  have  done  honestly  what  I  could. 
I  have  inserted  in  it  all  my  larger  and  smaller  poems  that 
were  not  absolutely  necessary  for  the  Almanac,  so  that  this 
number  contains  seventeen  articles,  which  will  make  peo- 
ple open  their  eyes.  I  will  send  you  the  table  of  contents. 

During  the  time  that  you  were  absent,  I  have  alternated 
between  prosaic  and  poetical  labors.  A  treatise  on  the 
Naive  that  I  have  commenced  promises  well ;  the  subject 
at  least  developes  itself,  and  I  find  myself  on  an  excellent 
track. 

I  hope  we  shall  see  you  soon  again.  jMy  wife  greets 
you. 

SCH. 


SCHILLER   AXD  GOETHE. 


91 


c. 

Jena,  13th  September,  1795. 

OxLY  a  small  sign  of  life.  I  can  by  no  means  accus- 
tom myself  to  being  eight  days  without  either  writing  to 
you  or  hearing  from  you. 

Everything  here  with  me  is  pretty  much  in  the  old  con- 
dition. I  am  not  yet  out  of  my  room,  but  my  labors  pro- 
ceed, notwithstanding,  on  their  way.  I  figure  you  to  my- 
self as  just  now  much  busied  with  giving  instruction  to 
Meyer,  who  I  suppose  will  set  out  soon  on  his  journey. 
Greet  him  warmly  from  me. 
•  I  wish  to  know  whether  it  is  at  Vicenza  that  the  beau- 
tiful bridge  is  carried  (over  the  Etsch  I  think)  in  one  arch. 
Write  me  a  word  about  it.  I  want  this  bridge  for  an  hexa- 
meter. 

If  you  would  only  consent  to  give  some  little  additional 
alms  to  the  last  three  numbers  of  the  Horen^  in  the  form  of 
a  dozen  epigrams,  or  similar  little  poetical  things.   I  shall 

j  make  the  same  request  of  Herder,  and  will  myself  try  to 
catch  some  ideas,  for  sucH  little  things  increase  the  num- 
ber of  articles  at  a  trifling  cost,  give  pleasure  to  every 
reader,  and  make  as  much  show  in  the  table  of  contents 
as  the  longest.    In  this  way  I  have  made  the  ninth  num- 

;     ber  contain  seventeen  articles. 

NINTH  NUMBER. 

1.  Realm  of  Shadows. 

2.  Contributions  to  the  History  of  Modern  Plastic  Art. 

3.  Conversations — Continuation. 

4.  Hymn  to  Apollo. 

5.  Schwarzburg.    Poems  by  Madame  Mereau. 

6.  Homer,  by  Herder. 

7.  Nature  and  Art,  by  me. 


92  CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


8.  Veiled  Portrait,  idem. 

9.  On  the  necessary  limits  of  the  Beautiful,  particularly 

in  the  explanation  of  philosophical  truths.  Dis- 
sertation by  me. 

10.  German  Faithfulness. 

11.  To  a  Reformer. 

12.  Antique  to  a  Traveller. 

13.  The  Philosophical  Egotist.  I 

14.  The  Ghost.  ^    Poems  by  me. 

15.  Wisdom  and  Prudence. 

16.  Iliad. 

17.  Immortality. 
In  the  last  number  of  the  Archives  of  the  Times  there  is 

an  answer  to  your  article  on  Literary  Sans-culottism.  I 
have  not  read  it,  but  only  seen  a  notice  of  it  in  the  Ham- 
burgh Gazette.  If  you  get  the  number  in  Weimar,  be  so 
good  as  to  let  me  see  it. 

The  Almanac  is  now  in  press.  Humboldt  will  be  back 
here  again  in  three  weeks  if  nothing  intervenes. 

My  wife  greets  you.  Be  not  too  diligent,  and  stay  not 
too  long  away  from  Jena. 

SCH. 

CI. 

I  HAVE  not  written  for  some  days  because  I  designed  to 
visit  you,  in  which  I  have  been  disappointed.  Meyer  is 
making  preparations  for  setting  out,  and  is  now  at  work  on 
a  colored  drawing  of  the  three  Fates,  which  you  must  see. 
I  wish  him  only  health ;  in  other  respects  he  goes  equipt 
with  all  excellent  qualities.  He  is  a  glorious  man.  As 
to  myself,  I  have,  as  you  will  easily  understand,  latterly 
stood  only  on  one  foot,  and  stretched  out  the  other  towards 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


93 


the  Alps.  The  mineralogical  and  geological  basis,  the 
original  and  the  progressive,  and  the  interrupted  culture  of 
the  land,  I  have  endeavored  partly  to  get  an  insight  into, 
partly  a  general  view  over ;  and  have  fully  discussed  too 
with  Meyer  the  department  of  art.  And  yet  all  this  is  only 
school  exercise.  May  a  good  genius  aid  us  in  seeing,  in 
drawing  just  conclusions  from  what  we  see,  and  to  a  happy 
re-meeting  !* 

I  think  daily  of  the  Horen,  and  hope  to  furnish  some- 
thing more.  May  you  have  been  able  to  enjoy  the  fine 
weather  in  the  open  air. 

The  chastised  Thersites  cringes,  I  hear,  pitifully  begs 
off,  and  only  beseeches  to  be  allowed  to  live.  1  have  not 
yet  seen  his  piece. f 

Farewell  and  believe  my  prophecy,  that  with  the  new 
year  the  subscribers  to  the  Horen  will  rather  increase  than 
diminish. 

Weimar,  14th  September,  1795.  , 

G. 

"Cll. 

I  FORGOT  in  my  last  letter  to  say  anything  of  your  ques- 
tion about  the  bridge.  There  is  not  at  Vicenza  any 
noted  one-arched  bridge.  The  two  there,  built  by  Pal- 
ladio,  are  tri-arched.  Nor,  except  the  Rialto  at  Venice, 
do  I  recollect  any  such  in  that  regien. 

Besides  the  repentance  of  the  literary  Sans-culotte,  an- 
other friendly  star  has  appeared  for  the  Horen,  inasmuch 
as  Genz,  in  his  monthly  journal,  does  great  reverence  to 

*  All  this  refers  apparently  to  the  preparations  for  his  friend 
Meyer's  journey. 

t  Alluded  to  in  Schiller's  previous  letter. 


X 

94 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


the  letters  on  aesthetic  education.  All  this  is  very  season- 
able, and  it  were  worth  considering,  whether  we  should 
not,  before  the  end  of  the  year,  declare  ourselves  on  cer- 
tain matters,  and  spread  hope  and  fear  among  authors  and 
reviewers. 

We  shall  visit  you  soon  ;  have  the  goodness  to  send  me 
back  the  tale,  it  shall  be  returned  to  you  completed. 
Farewell. 

Weimar,  16th  September,  1795. 

G. 

cm. 

Jexa,  18th  September,  1795. 

According  to  your  request  I  send  the  tale.  If  I  have 
it  back  in  eight  days  it  will  be  in  time  for  the  press. 

I  am  heartily  thankful  for  the  encouraging  news  you 
give  me  about  the  Horen.  I  also  hope  that  the  last  num- 
bers of  the  year  will  be  still  more  successful.  They  will 
contain  a  great  deal  of  exactly  that  which  was  missed  in 
the  foregoing,  viz. :  poetry  and  narrative.  A  few  days 
since  Engle  too  sent  me  another  article,  more  than  three 
printed  sheets  long,  of  a  character  very  suitable  for  the 
public,  part  dialogue,  and  part  narration ;  in  truth  no  pro- 
digy of  genius,  but  just  the  kind  of  thing  that  our  dear 
readers  like.  But  that  there  will  be  something  for  those 
also  who  are  too  good  for  such  offerings,  you,  I  gladly  and 
firmly  believe,  will  provide. 

The  tenth  number  is  safe  through  the  tale.  Only  the 
eleventh,  therefore,  is  to  be  cared  for,  and  in  that  we  must 
concentrate  our  strength.  Variety,  particularly,  we  must 
not  fail  to  give  it. 

If  you  would  only  move  Herder  to  give  us  for  the  last 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


95 


numbers,  little  things,  as  Epigrams  in  the  style  of  the 
anthology,  &c. 

Humboldt  writes  me  from  Berlin  that  the  three  last  pub- 
lished numbers  are  well  spoken  of  there. 

If  you  get  the  Archives  of  the  Times  and  the  Genzian 
Monthly  sooner  than  I,  be  so  good  as  to  send  me  the  cap- 
ital things. 

I  am  glad  that  I  shall  see  you  here  soon.  We  both 
greet  you. 

ScH. 

CIV. 

The  tale  is  finished,  and  will  be  sent  to  you  newly 
copied  on  Saturday.  It  was  well  that  you  held  it  back, 
partly  because  it  has  now  been  improved  in  many  respects, 
partly  because  it  is  not  unreasonably  long.  I  beg  particu- 
larly that  your  dear  wife  will  read  it  through  again  from 
beginning  to  end. 

In  the  middle  of  next  week  I  hope  to  come  over  with 
Meyer  :  I  shall  feel  his  absence  very  much.  If  I  can 
only  in  the  Winter  be  some  time  with  you  ! 

I  have  much  to  say  and  to  ask,  and  hope  to  find  you 
well,  with  much  work  done.    Greet  Humboldt  for  me. 

Weimar,  23d  September,  1795. 

G, 

cv. 

What  I  have  been  about  in  these  troublesome  times, 
you  will  learn,  my  dear  friend,  from  the  annexed.  Blessed 
are  they  who  write  tales  :  for  tales  are  a  Vordre  du  jour. 
The  landgrave  of  Darmstadt  has  arrived  in  Eisenach  with 
two  hundred  horse,  and  the  emigrants  there  threaten  to 


96 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


move  their  quarters  thither.  The  Elector  of  Aschaffen- 
burg  is  expected  in  Erfurth. 

*  Ah  ! — Wherefore  stands  the  Fane  not  on  the  river  ! 
Ah  ! — Wherefore  is  the  Bridge  not  yet  built  up  !" 

I  wish,  as  we  must  ever  nevertheless  remain  men  and 
authors,  that  my  production  may  not  displease  you.  How 
serious  every  trifle  becomes,  the  moment  one  treats  it  ac 
cording  to  the  principles  of  art,  I  have  on  this  occasion 
again  experienced.  I  hope  that  the  eighteen  figures  of 
this  Drama  will  be  w^elcome,  as  so  many  riddles,  to  the 
lovers  of  riddles. 

Meyer  is  packing  up,  and  we  shall  be  with  you  soon 
I  hope  that  you  have  much  to  regale  us  with.  Farewell. 

Weimar,  26th  September,  1795. 

G. 

CVI. 

I  HEAR  from  our  friend,  who  sends  his  best  regard  to 
you,  that  you  have  entirely  buried  yourself  in  your  room 
in  order  to  hasten  your  novel,  because  Unger  is  urgent  to 
have  it.    My  best  wishes  for  this  labor.     I  am  full  o 
curiosity  to  see  this  third  part  in  one  mass. 

The  day  after  to-morrow,  then,  we  shall  see  you  again 
at  which  I  am  heartily  rejoiced,  and  which  I  have  Ion 
hoped. 

Humboldt  will  not  return  here  this  winter :  this  is 
great  disappointment  to  me. 

Have  the  goodness  to  bring  with  you  the  Archives  of 
the  Times,  which  contains  the  famous  answer  to  your 

*  Ach  ! — Warum  steht  der  Tempel  nicht  am  Flusse  ! 
Ach  ! — Warum  ist  die  Brücke  nicht  gebaut ! 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


attack,  and  also  the  number  of  the  new  monthly  work,  in 
which  my  praise  is  set  down.  I  can  get  sight  of  neither 
here. 

I  hear  with  pleasure  that  you  are  endeavoring  to  obtain 
for  the  Horen  a  new  acquisition  of  which  I  have  before- 
hand a  good  opinion. 

The  Tale  has  entertained  us  much,  and  is  sure  to  please 
universally.    More  orally.  Farewell. 

Jena,  2d  October,  1795. 

SCH. 

evil. 

Mi"  wish  to  see  you  again  has  been  latterly,  constantly 
disappointed.  To-morrow  I  hope  to  be  with  you  and  to 
learn  what  you  have  done  in  the  interim. 

That  you  think  I  have  been  successful  with  the  Tale, 
pleases  me  greatly,  and  I  wish  now  to  discuss  with  you 
the  whole  genus,  and  to  make  some  further  experiments. 

The  end  of  the  sixth  book  of  my  Novel  goes  off  on 
Monday,  and  this  volume  will  soon  wait  upon  you  printed. 
In  the  following  one  the  stone  will  roll  down  hill,  and  the 
most  of  it  is  already  finished  and  written. 

The  journals  you  ask  for  I  will  have  sought  out,  in 
order  if  possible  to  bring  them  with  me. 

The  Knebelian  Elegies  are  well  conceived,  and  in 
more  than  one  sense  good  and  satisfactory.  Perhaps  I 
will  bring  some  of  them  with  me. 

Weimar,  3(1  October,  1795. 

G. 

CVlll. 

Instead  of  hurrying  away  from  you  yesterday,  I  would 
much  rather  have  remained,  and  the  uncomfortableness  of 

5 


93 


CORR  ESPOXDENCi-:  BKTWF.EN 


a  dissatisfied  state  of  mind  accompanied  me  the  Avhole 
way.  In  so  short  a  time  one  thinks  of  such  a  variety  of 
subjects  and  executes  none,  and  however  much  may  be 
set  in  motion,  little  comes  to  maturity. 

On  the  journey  back  I  thought  over  your  poems.  They 
have  peculiar  excellences,  and  I  may  say  that  they  are 
now  what  I  before  expected  from  you.  This  singular 
union  of  contemplation  and  abstraction,  which  is  in  your 
nature,  shows  itself  here  in  perfect  equilibrium,  and  all 
other  poetical  virtues  are  in  attendance  in  beautiful  propor- 
tions. It  will  give  me  pleasure  to  see  them  again,  in 
print,  to  enjoy  them  repeatedly,  and  share  the  enjoyment 
with  others.  The  small  poem  in  stanzas  to  the  public 
would  close  very  appropriately  this  year's  series  of  the 
Hoven. 

I  have  set  to  work  immediately  with  Madame  de  Stael 
and  find  more  labor  in  the  task  than  I  expected:  1  wiil, 
however,  go  through  with  it,  for  it  is  not  much.  The 
whole  will  make  about  fifty-five  pages  of  my  manuscript. 
The  first  part,  of  twenty-one  pages,  you  shall  have  soon. 
In  a  short  preface  to  the  publisher  I  will  explain  the  man- 
ner in  which  I  have  proceeded  in  the  translation.  In 
order  to  spare  you  petty  corrections,  I  have  made  the  words 
approximate  to  our  mode  of  thought,  and  at  the  same  time 
endeavored  to  give  a  little  more  precision,  after  our  Ger- 
man fashion,  to  the  French  indefiniteness.  In  individual 
passages  you  will  find  much  that  is  good,  but  as  she  is 
prejudiced,  yet  at  the  same  time  acute  and  honest,  she  can 
by  no  means  obtain  harmony  with  herself ;  but  you  can 
make  good  use  of  it  as  text.  I  wish  that  you  would  take 
pains  and  be  as  clear  and  gallant  as  possible  in  your  work, 
in  order  that  hereafter  we  may  send  it  to  her,  and  thereby 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


99 


make  a  beginning  towards  leading  the  dance  of  the  Horen 
over  into  transformed  France. 

G. 

ex. 

I  SHALL  see  you  soon  again,  for  my  journey  to  Frank- 
fort is  given  up.  Madame  de  Stael  will  be  with  you  be- 
fore I  shall :  the  copying  is  almost  done.  Did  you  speak 
to  Humboldt  about  his  lodgings  ?  It  would  be  very 
pleasant  if  I.  could  take  possession  of  his  little  room,  as 
the  tread  of  the  military  is  not  likely  to  cease  soon  in  the 
castle.  I  am  now  at  the  Novel  with  all  my  heart  and 
mind,  and  will  not  waver  till  I  have  conquered  it.  Fare- 
well, and  think  of  me  in  your  labors,  and  greet  your  dear 
wife  from  me. 

Eisenach,  16fh  October,  1795. 

G. 

CXI. 

16th  October,  1795. 

Could  I  have  supposed  that  you  would  remain  longer 
in  Eisenach,  I  should  not  have  so  long  deferred  writing  to 
you.  It  is  a  satisfaction  to  me  to  know  that  you  are  on 
the  Main,  far  away  from  strife  and  bustle.  The  shadow  of 
the  giant  might  easily  fall  on  you  ungently.  It  often 
strikes  me  as  strange,  when  I  think  of  you  launched  upon 
the  busy  world,  while  I  am  sitting  between  my  paper  win- 
dows, and  have  nothing  but  paper  before  me  :  and  that  we, 
nevertheless,  are  near  to  each  other,  and  can  understand 
each  other. 

Your  letter  from  Weimar  gave  me  great  pleasure.  For 
every  hour  of  courage  and  confidence,  there  are  always 
ten  in  which  I  am  faint-hearted  and  know  not  what  to 


100 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


think  of  myself.  At  such  times  such  a  view  of  myself 
from  without  is  a  great  consolation  to  me.  Herder,  too, 
wrote  me  a  short  time  since  a  most  friendly  letter  about 
my  poems. 

This  much  I  now  know  from  certain  experience,  that 
lightness  can  only  be  obtained  by  severe  precision  in  the 
thoughts.  Formerly  I  believed  the  opposite  and  feared 
hardness  and  stiffness.  I  am  now  glad  that  I  did  not  let 
myself  be  deterred  from  pursuing  a  difficult  course,  which 
I  regarded  as  often  destructive  of  poetical  imagination. 
This  exertion,  however,  strains  the  mind  exceedingly,  for 
while  the  philosopher  can  let  his  imagination  repose,  and 
the  poet  his  abstracting  faculty,  I  am  obliged  in  this  man- 
ner of  proceeding,  to  keep  both  faculties  always  in  equal 
action,  and  only  by  a  constant  excitement  within  me  can 
I  hold  these  two  heterogeneous  elements  in  a  kind  of 
solution. 

I  look  for  a  de  Stael  sheet  with  much  curiosity.  If  the 
space  will  permit  it,  I  am  for  putting  the  whole  at  once 
into  one  number.  I  will  then  let  my  comments  follow  in 
the  next  number.  In  the  mean  time  the  reader  will  have 
made  his  own,  and  will  listen  to  me  with  more  interest. 
In  the  short  term  that  is  yet  left  for  the  eleventh  number, 
I  should  hardly  have  time  to  get  them  ready,  even  though 
I  should  receive  the  translation  on  Monday  next.  Herder 
has  also  sent  for  the  eleventh  number  a  treatise  on  the 
Graces,  in  which  he  endeavors  to  restore  these  abused 
personages  to  their  old  rights.  He  promises  another  arti- 
cle for  the  twelfth  number.  I  hope  to  get  ready  for  the 
eleventh  my  dissertation  on  the  Naive,  which  will  be 
several  sheets  long,  and  is,  I  think,  written  in  a  popular 
style.    Nor  will  there  be  any  want  of  little  poetical  addi- 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


101 


tions.  Herewith  I  send  you  some  trifles  of  mine.  The 
Partition  of  the  Eartli^  you  might  very  properly  read  out 
aloud  from  a  window  in  Frankfort,  which  is  a  suitable  lo- 
cality for  it.    If  it  amuses  you,  read  it  to  the  Duke. 

In  the  other  piece  I  have  ridiculed  a  philosophical 
axiom :  philosophy  appears  always  ridiculous,  when,  with 
her  own  means,  without  acknowledging  her  dependence  on 
experience,  she  pretends  to  enlarge  the  domain  of  know- 
ledge and  give  laws  to  the  world. 

I  am  glad  that  you  intend  soon  to  take  Meister  in  hand 
again.  I  will  then  not  delay  to  master  the  whole,  and  if 
I  can,  I  will  try  on  it  a  new  kind  of  criticism,  according  to 
a  synthetical  method,  if,  what  I  cannot  now  undertake  to 
say,  such  a  one  be  possible. 

My  wife,  and  my  mother-in-law,  who  is  at  present  here, 
send  their  best  regards  to  you.  I  have  been  asked  here, 
where  you  now  are,  but  I  did  not  think  it  necessary  to 
say.  If  you  receive  any  accounts  from  our  Italian  travel- 
ler, pray  communicate  them  to  me.  Farewell. 

SCH. 

CXII. 

Sunday  Evening. 

I  AM  impatient  to  receive  from  you  a  token  that  you  are 
alive.  It  seems  to  me  a  very  long  time  since  I  heard  from 
you.  The  event  in  your  house  has,  I  hope,  been  happily 
got  through  with. 

We  live  now  in  the  buffeting  times  of  the  middle  ages. 
It  is  a  real  Ecclesia  Militans — the  Horen  I  mean.  Besides 
the  nations  that  Mr.  J.  in  H.  is  at  the  head  of,  and  that 
Mr.  M.  of  the  library  of  S.  W.  has  had  ordered  out,  and 


*  A  short  poem  by  Schiller. 


102 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


besides  W.'s  heavy  cavalry,  we  have  soon  to  expect  a 
rough  attack  from  Nicolai  of  Berlin.  In  the  tenth  portion 
of  his  travels,  it  is  said  that  he  treats  of  scarcely  anything 
else  but  the  Horen,  falls  foul  of  the  application  of  Kantean 
Philosophy,  and  throws  everything,  the  good  as  well  as 
the  bad,  into  one  pot.  It  is  a  question  now,  whether  we 
ought  to  answer  these  platitudes.  I  would  rather  be  for 
contriving  a  means  of  making  an  indifference  to  them  con- 
spicuous. We  should,  however,  henceforward,  in  texts 
and  notes,  and  at  every  opportunity,  treat  Nicolai  with  a 
marked  contempt. 

Have  you  seen  the  new  Alma?iacs  of  the  Muses  ?  They 
are  execrable.  Farewell. 

SCH. 

CXIII. 

Although  I  shall  be  in  Weimar  again  on  Wednesday, 
I  send  you  beforehand  the  treatise  :  I  have  not  even  been 
able  to  look  through  it  since  it  was  copied  :  here  and  there, 
there  will  be  something  to  correct.  Perhaps  I  shall  visit 
you  at  the  end  of  the  week,  and  we  will  see  each  other 
again  sooner  than  I  expected.  What  an  empty  life  is  a 
divided*  life !  One  learns  exactly  that  which  one  does 
not  care  about  knowing. 

Eisenach,  17th  Oct.,  1795. 

G. 

CXIV. 

Welcome  to  Weimar !  I  am  right  glad  to  know  that 
you  are  again  near  me.  I  regret  that  you  could  not  be 
here  during  the  last  eight  days.    With  the  fine  weather  I 

*  Divided  is  the  nearest  I  can  come  to  the  German  zerstreut, 
wliich  means  here  a  life  divided  among  a  variety  of  objects. 


SCHILLER    AND  GOETHE. 


103 


felt  iiiiicli  lighter,  and  rode  out  again  to-day,  which  agreed 
very  well  with  me.  On  the  other  hand,  no  work  has  been 
doiie  for  several  days. 

Mad.  de  Stael  I  expect  with  curiosity. 

My  letter,  which  I  wrote  to  you  at  Eisenach  on  Friday, 
you  probably  have  not  yet  received,  and  had  set  out  before 
it  arrived. 

I  am  looking  for  an  answer  from  Humboldt  about  the 
lodgings.  As  I  do  not  know  whether  his  room  can  be 
given  up  to  another,  I  have  touched  upon  the  subject  so 
lightly  that  he  may  feel  at  liberty  to  pass  the  subject  by  in 
silence.  I  shall  be  rejoiced  if  you  can  get  accommodated 
here  comfortably. 

I  wish  all  prosperity  to  the  Novel.  I  do  not  doubt  that 
the  best  for  the  whole  now  is,  that  you  devote  yourself  to 
it  without  interruption.  For  I  look  upon  it  as  no  unimpor- 
tant advantage,  if  you  have  the  last  volume  finished  some 
months  earlier  than  it  will  be  wanted  for  the  press.  You 
have  a  large  account  to  close  :  how  easy  it  were  to  forget 
a  trifle. 

If  you  can  find  among  your  papers  the  letter  I  wrote  to 
you  last  year,  after  my  return  to  Jena,  as  the  opening  of  an 
aesthetic  correspondence,  have  the  goodness  to  send  it  to 
me.  I  think  of  making  something  out  of  it.  My  wife, 
and  mother-in-law,  who  is  spending  some  weeks  here, 
send  their  respects. 

ScH. 

cxv. 

I  AM  curious  to  learn  what  the  paper  will  bring  us :  so 
early  as  yesterday  I  heard  a  buzz  about  it  at  the  theatre. 

I  do  not  come  to-day,  my  dear  friend,  but  I  hope  soon. 
Every  day,  I  expect  a  new  citizen  of  the  world  in  ray 


104 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


house,  to  whom  I  would  like  to  give  a  friendly  reception. 
In  the  mean  time  the  castle  will  be  purified  from  military- 
effluvia,  and  I  shall  be  able  to  remain  some  days  with 
you. 

Farewell ;  commend  me  to  the  ladies,  and  keep  me  in 
your  love. 

In  these  last  interrupted  days  I  have  busied  myself  with 
my  Italian  collections,  and  begun  to  arrange  them,  and 
perceived  with  great  joy  that  with  some  industry  a  mar- 
vellous work  may  be  put  together. 

Have  you  no  copy  of  the  treatise  on  the  Naive  ? 

Weimar,  25th  October,  1795. 

Goethe. 

The  letter  you  inquire  for  I  have  not  yet  found.  It  is, 
however,  certainly  near  at  hand. 

CXVI, 

Jena,  25th  October,  1795. 

I  CONGRATULATE  you  beforehand  on  the  new  inmate. 
Let  it  be  a  girl,  and  then  we  shall  be  able  by  and  by  to  be- 
come kin  to  one  another. 

I  forgot  the  day  before  yesterday  to  write  you  about 
Madame  de  Stael.  The  work  is  written  with  much 
genius,  and  as  there  is  in  it  more  thunder  and  lightning 
than  common  weather,  it  is  well  calculated  to  be  com- 
mented upon.  To  introduce  strict  harmony  into  it  would 
be  difficult,  and  would  not  repay  the  trouble. 

You  have  several  times  used  the  word  seduce  [verführ- 
en], speaking  of  poeiry.  I  wish  to  know  what  this  is  in 
the  original,  whether  it  has  the  general  meaning  of  deceive 
[täuschen],  because  seduce  used  in  an  (Esthetic  sense  has 
an  accessory  signification. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


105 


I  am  glad  that  you  find  in  your  Italian  papers  so  much 
booty. 

I  have  been  always  curious  about  these  papers,  judging 
by  the  little  that  you  have  made  known  out  of  them.  In 
your  search,  remember  the  Horen,  and  turn  a  branch  of 
this  Pactolus  into  it. 

I  am  anxious  to  know  what  you  will  say  to  the  Wolfian 
attack  when  you  shall  have  read  it.  Herder  wishes  that 
I  should  notice  it  merely  as  an  editor,  and  to  the  extent 
that  the  Horen  shall  be  involved  ;  and  as  I  do  not  think  it 
advisable  to  keep  perfect  silence,  and  at  the  very  outset  to 
let  the  adversary  have  the  last  word,  I  will  rather  do  this 
than  that  nothing  at  all  be  said. 

I  have  read  the  two  new  Almanacs  of  the  Muses,  which 
are  beyond  measure  meagre  and  miserable.  I  have  given 
them  to  Herder  to  take  with  him.  Farewell :  I  hope  to 
hear  from  you  again  soon. 

My  family  greet  you. 

SCH. 

CXVII. 

Since  my  return  I  have  not  been  myself ;  I  only,  there- 
fore, send  you  the  letter  you  asked  for. 

I  believe  I  have  said  nothing  as  yet  of  the  small  poems 
you  sent  me  at  Eisenach  :  they  are  very  pretty,  particu- 
larly The  Lot  of  Poets,  which  is  charming,  true,  pointed, 
and  cheering. 

Would  it  not  be  well  for  you  now  to  look  around  in  all 
directions,  and  collect  everything  that  has  been  said 
against  the  Horen  in  general  and  in  particular,  and  pass 
judgment  upon  it  at  the  end  of  the  year  ?  The  Halle  Phi- 
losophical Journal,  too,  is  said  to  have  behaved  in  an  un- 

5* 

I 


106 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


seemly  manner.  When  one  binds  up  these  sort  of  things 
in  bundles  they  show  better. 

Farewell.  Love  me.  Commend  me  to  your  wife  and 
her  mother.  Your  little  daughter-in-law  has  not  yet  made 
her  appearance, 

Weimar,  28th  October,  1795. 

G. 

CXVIII. 

Instead  of  a  little  girl  a  boy  has  at  last  arrived,  and  thus 
is  one  of  my  cares  put  to  sleep.  Now  it  is  for  you  to  pro- 
vide a  girl  in  order  to  create  the  relationship  and  increase 
the  poetic  family.  I  shall  now  come  soon,  and  am  really 
in  want  of a  talk,  such  as  I  can  have  with  you.  I  continue 
still  out  of  the  path  of  poetry.  From  outward  causes  I 
have  been  occupied  again  with  architecture,  and  have  put 
together  something  to  facilitate  and  fix  the  judgment  in  re- 
gard to  specimens  of  this  art. 

From  Meyer  I  have  a  letter  from  Munich  with  very 
interesting  accounts  of  that  place,  also  from  Nuremburg. 
I  will  bring  them  with  me.  Tell  me  how  you  are,  and 
think  of  me. 

Weimar,  1st  November,  1795. 

G. 

CX!X. 

Jena,  November  4,  1795. 

My  heartfelt  congratulations  to  the  new  comer.  I 
should  not  have  begrudged  you  a  pair,  but  that  can  be 
made  up.  Now  I  hope  to  see  you  here  soon,  and  rejoice 
in  the  prospect.  Humboldt  will  be  much  pleased,  if  you 
will  look  upon  his  lodgings  as  entirely  yours.  The  only 
doubt  about  the  matter  was,  that  Helifeld,  who  had  stipu- 


Sf'HlLLKJi    AXD  ÜOETHK. 


107 


lated  in  their  contract  that  there  should  be  no  sub-letting, 
might  make  a  difliculty.  But  as  there  is  no  question  of 
letting,  he  will  not  be  so  silly  as  to  plead  the  contract.  In 
order  to  be  fully  prepared,  I  have  in  my  hand  a  letter  from 
Humboldt  to  him,  which  I  will  deliver,  if  you  will  only 
accompany  it  with  a  short  note  to  Hellfeld,  asking  him  for 
the  key.  If  you  pay  him  this  respect,  he  will  be  very  ac- 
commodating. I  am  sure  that  you  will  like  these  quarters 
better  than  the  castle. 

Your  Elegies  have  found  (as  the  enclosed  letter  from 
D.  Gros  to  Mr.  Humboldt  will  show  you)  a  great  and  by 
no  means  unimportant  admirer  in  the  Latin  world  too.  I 
send  you  the  letter  itself;  perhaps  you  may  like  to  gratify 
the  wish,  which  the  writer  expresnes,  and  "xontribute 
something.  It  seems  to  me  that  I  have  already  on  some 
occasion  spoken  to  you  of  this  gentleman,  so  much  I  can 
say  with  confidence,  that  our  academy  would  make  no 
insignificant  acquisition  in  him.  I  knov/  few  among  the 
new  generation  who  have  so  sound  a  head,  so  much  solid 
understanding,  and  so  correct  a  judgment.  In  the  law  de- 
partment he  was  held  in  m.uch  esteem  at  Göttingen. 

I  am  waiting  for  Meister  with  impatience.  Celerity, 
it  seems,  is  not  Unger's  fort. 

Farewell.    My  wife  sends  her  best  regards. 

ScK.  • 

Did  you  receive  the  Hoven  all  right  last  Monday  ?  The 
eighth  copy  for  Meyer  I  gave  to  Miss  Imhof,  as  our  friend 
directed.  The  copies  are  in  bad  condition,  and,  moreover, 
I  picked  yours  out.  Gotta  gives  as  excuse  the  war,  v/hich, 
he  says,  interfered  with  the  delivery  of  paper. 


I 


108 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


I 

cxx. 

20th  November,  1795. 

From  our  hearts  have  we  bewailed  the  loss  you  have 
suffered.  One  consolation,  however,  you  have,  that  it  has 
happened  so  early,  and  therefore  strikes  your  hopes  rather 
than  your  affections.  I  hardly  think  I  could  bear  it,  if  I 
were  now  to  lose  my  boy. 

For  six  days  I  have  been  quite  tolerable,  and  made  the 
most  of  the  favorable  time  to  push  forward  in  my  disser- 
tation. 

Schlegel  wrote  to  me  lately,  and  sends  something  for 
the  Horen.  He  is  in  ecstasy  about  the  tale  :  the  Hum- 
boldts, too,  are  much  pleased  with  it.  Will  you  have 
leisure  to  get  the  new  one  finished  for  January  at  the  latest, 
it  might  still  go  into  the  first  number.  This  I  should  like 
exceedingly,  as  we  ought  to  begin  well,  and  I  have  as  yet 
nothing  in  the  department  of  narration. 

On  the  new  volume  of  Meister,  for  which  we  thank  you, 
I  have  already  collected  various  opinions.  Every  one 
thinks  the  sixth  book  in  itself  very  interesting,  true,  and 
beautiful,  but  feels  that  the  progress  of  the  story  is  arrested 
by  it.  This,  to  be  sure,  is  not  an  eesthetic  judgment,  for  at 
the  first  reading,  particularly  of  a  narration,  curiosity  is 
more  intent  upon  the  story  and  conclusion  than  taste  is 
upon  the  whole  work. 

Are  you  still  inclined  to  hold  back  the  last  volume  for 
a  year  ? 

Mr.  P.  has  sent  me  to-day  a  villainous  production : 
Aurora,  or  the  Child  of  Hell,  which  is  a  miserable  imita- 
tion of  Biondetta.  He  has  the  glorious  idea  of  developing 
the  whole  magic  as  a  mere  machinery  of  a  maid  in  love 
with  the  hero,  who  thereby  endeavors  to  overcome  him. 
All  the  rest  is  worthy  this  wise  conception. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


109 


Farewell,  and  may  all  the  Muses  be  with  you.  My 
wife  greets  you. 

Sen. 

CXXI. 

I  have  received  your  kind  letter,  and  thank  you  for 
your  sympathy,  which  I  already  knew  I  had.  One  knows 
not  in  such  cases  whether  it  is  better  to  let  grief  have  its 
natural  way,  or  by  the  aid  which  culture  offers  us,  to  bear 
up  against  it.  If  one  resolves  upon  the  latter,  as  I  always 
do,  one  is  thereby  bettered  only  for  a  moment,  and  I  have 
remarked,  that  nature  always  at  one  time  or  other  asserts 
her  rights. 

The  sixth  book  of  my  Novel  has  also  produced  a  good 
impression :  to  be  sure  with  such  productions  the  poor 
reader  does  not  himself  know  how  matters  stand  with  him, 
for  he  does  not  reflect,  that  he  never  would  take  these 
books  in  his  hands,  if  the  author  did  not  understand  how 
to  laugh  at  his  mode  of  thought,  his  sensibility,  and  his 
inquisitiveness. 

The  testimonials  in  favor  of  my  Tale  are  of  high  value 
to  me,  and  I  shall  in  future  go  to  work  in  this  department 
with  more  confidence. 

The  last  volume  of  the  Novel  cannot  appear  before 
Michaelmas  :  it  were  very  well  if  we  tim.ed  our  plans,  of 
which  you  lately  spoke,  in  reference  to  this. 

The  new  Tale  can  hardly  be  finished  in  December,  nor 
must  I  pass  on  to  this  one,  until  I  shall  have  said  some- 
thing or  other  of  the  interpretation  of  the  first.  If  I  can 
furnish  something  neat  of  this  kind  in  December,  I  shall 
be  glad  in  this  way  to  take  part  in  the  first  entrance  into 
the  new  year. 


110 


COJIKESPONDEXCE 


BET  WE  EX 


Farewell !  May  we  long  enjoy  those  who  are  dearest 
to  us  and  our  friendship.  At  the  new  year  I  hope  to  visit 
you  again. 

Weimar,  21st  November,  1195. 

G. 

CXXII. 

25th  November,  1795. 

I  AM  Very  curious  to  see  the  Smith  performance,  and 
doubt  not  that  the  better  sort  of  our  readers  will  thank  us 
for  it.  It  will  not,  however,  please  the  larger  portion  of 
them,  that  I'm  sure  of.  They  are  only  to  be  won  by  pro- 
ductions of  the  stamp  of  Lawrence  Stark.  You  would 
not  believe  what  general  delight  this  work  gives.  No 
other  has  been  so  much  talked  of. 

Your  displeasure  against  St.  L.,  and  their  colleagues, 
has  communicated  itself  to  me.  I  shall  be  heartily  glad  if 
you  give  them  a  slap.  For  the  rest,  it  is  but  the  Histoire 
du  jour.  It  never  was  otherwise,  and  never  will  be.  Be 
assured  that  if  you  once  write  a  novel  or  a  comedy,  you 
must  always  write  novels  and  comedies.  Nothing  further 
will  be  expected  from  you,  nothing  acknowledged  ;  and, 
had  the  celebrated  Newton  made  his  debut  with  a  come- 
dy, not  only  his  optics,  but  even  his  astronomy,  would  have 
been  for  a  long  while  sequestered  from  him.  If,  out  of 
sport,  you  had  ushered  your  optical  discoveries  into  the 
world,  under  the  name  of  ,  or  some  such  lecture- 
room  hero,  you  would  have  seen  wonders  produced  by 
them.  It  is  certainly  less  on  account  of  the  innovation, 
than  of  the  person  from  whom  it  proceeds,  that  these 
ignoble  people  set  their  faces  so  against  it. 

I  should  like  to  see  St.'s  delictum.  I  should  be  very 
glad  if  you  can  send  it  to  me.    In  this  man,  obscurity  and 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


Ill 


feebleness  are  united  in  such  a  degree,  that  I  can  have  no 
sympathy  for  and  with  him.  That  strange  fellow,  Jenish, 
in  Berlin,  who  must  have  a  finger  in  everything,  has  also 
read  the  notices  of  the  Horen,  and,  in  his  first  excitement, 
wrote  a  treatise  on  me  and  my  character  as  author,  which 
was  intended  for  a  defence  against  their  complaints.  For- 
tunately, a  friend  withheld  the  manuscript  from  Genz,  for 
whose  monthly  journal  it  was  designed,  and  prevented  the 
printing  of  it.  But  I  am  not  secure  against  his  having  it 
printed  somewhere  else.  It  is  particularly  hard,  that  with 
such  bitter  and  numerous  enemies,  I  should  still  have  the 
most  to  dread  from  the  folly  of  a  friend,  which  would 
have  the  effect  of  silencing  at  once  the  few  voices  that 
are  raised  in  my  favor. 

I  shall  be  able  to  furnish  a  very  full  review  of  your 
Meister  in  August  or  September  of  next  year,  and  then  it 
will  be  very  ä  propos,  I  think,  to  publish  the  last  volume 
at  Michaelmas,  96,  or  Easter,  97.  Perhaps  there  were 
some  morceaux  in  the  last  volume  that  you  might  throw  out 
to  the  public,  for  their  momentary  contentment,  at  Easter, 
96,  at  which  time  the  whole  will  be  expected. 

I  received  yesterday,  at  last,  a  fine  historical  article 
from  Archenholz,  entitled  Sohicski/,  which  must  also  ap- 
pear in  the  last  number  of  the  Horcn.  I  would  have  given 
much  that  you  could  have  done  something  for  the  first 
number  of  the  second  year.  Perhaps  you  are  disposed  to 
open  the  war  in  this  number.  You  will  receive  from 
Herder  my  treatise  on  the  Sentimental  Poets,  of  which  you 
have  only  heard  a  small  part,  and  which  I  beg  you  to  read 
through.  I  hope  you  will  be  satisfied  with  it ;  it  is  the 
best  I  can  do  in  this  kind.  I  think  that  this  last  judgment 
upon  the  largest  portion  of  German  poets,  will  have  a 


112 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


good  effect  at  the  end  of  the  year,  and,  especially  give 
Messrs.,  our  critics,  something  to  think  about.  My  tone 
is  free  and  firm,  aUhough,  at  the  same  time,  I  hope,  no- 
where wanting  in  liberality.  In  my  progress  I  have,  to 
be  sure,  struck  about  me  lightly  in  all  directions,  and  there 
are  few  who  come  out  of  the  conflict  unwounded. 

On  Naturalness,  and  its  Rights,  I  have  (with  reference 
to  the  Elegies)  spoken  at  length,  on  which  occasion  Wie- 
land is  slightly  grazed.  But  1  cannot  help  it ;  and,  as 
people  have  never  thought  (nor  Wieland  neither)  of  sup- 
pressing their  opinions  of  my  faults,  but,  on  the  contrary, 
have  let  me  hear  them  often  harshly  enough,  I  have  there- 
fore now,  when  I  happen  to  have  the  game  in  my  hands, 
not  withheld  my  opinion. 

Farewell.  I  shall  rejoice  if,  after  New  Year,  we  can 
live  together  again  for  a  good  space. 

SCH, 

CXXIV. 

Here  I  send  you  the  last  filth  of  the  noble  shallow 
proser.*  The  passage  marked  in  the  Preface,  is  the  one 
to  be  taken  hold  of  some  time  when  one  has  nothing  better 
to  do. 

It  is  incredible  how  ignorant  in  general  these  people 
are  ;  for  who  does  not  know  that  the  Christians  appro- 
priated to  themselves  whatever  was  reasonable  and  good, 
by  ascribing  it  to  the  logos  ?  and  my  dear  Christian  does 
just  that,  page  304,  and  people  will  not  think  hard  of  the 
good  creature  on  that  account. 

A  letter  from  Prince  August,!  which  I  send  herewith, 

*  One  of  the  Counts  Stolberg  is  probably  here  referred  to. 
t  The  Grand  Duke  of  Weimar. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


113 


will  give  you  pleasure  ;  it  is  none  of  the  worst  produc- 
tions of  his  peculiar  humor.  The  copy,  for  Humboldt,  T 
beg  you  to  send  me  back  ;  he  has  had  his  from  Berlin. 

I  am  very  curious  to  see  your  treatise  on  the  Poets. 
What  I  know  of  your  ideas  on  this  subject,  has  been  lat- 
terly of  much  service  to  me  in  practice  :  however  little 
one  creates  with  consciousness,  one  needs  it  constantly, 
particularly  in  long  works.  For  the  rest,  as  to  what  you 
say  of  the  Poets,  I  cannot  take  it  ill  of  a  man  who  has 
let  the  tricks  pass  for  a  long  while,  that  he  should  now, 
when  he  gets  the  trumps  in  his  hands,  play  them  out  too. 

Weisshuhn's  article,  in  the  sixth  number  of  Niethham- 
mer's  Journal,  pleased  me  much.  This  mode  of  philoso- 
phizing interests  me  far  more  than  that  of  Fichte  :  we 
must  read  the  article  together ;  I  wish  to  have  your 
thoughts  on  several  points.  In  the  arranging  of  my  phy- 
sical expefiments,  it  is,  I  find,  of  great  use  to  me  that  I 
have  looked  latterly  down  upon  the  philosophical  battle- 
ground oftener  than  formerly.  This  moment  I  received 
your  treatise,  and  shall  enjoy  the  pleasure  of  reading  it  in 
the  first  quiet  hour.  As  soon  as  you  have  something 
more  certain  about  the  subscription  to  the  Horen,  pray 
write  it  to  me.  Farewell. 

Weimar,  25th  Nov.,  1795. 

G. 

cxxv. 

I  HEREWITH  send  your  treatise  back,  with  many  thanks. 
As  this  theory  treats  me  so  well,  nothing  is  more  natural 
than  that  I  should  approve  of  its  principles,  and  that  the 
conclusions  to  which  they  lead  should  appear  to  me  just. 
I  should,  however,  have  now  more  distrust  in  regard  to  it, 
had  I  not  at  first  been  myself  in  a  hostile  state  of  mind 


114 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


towards  your  views.  For  it  is  not  unknown  to  you,  that, 
from  a  too  great  partiality  for  ancient  poetry,  I  have  often 
been  unjust  to  modern.  Now,  for  the  first  time,  through 
your  doctrine,  can  I  obtain  harmony  with  myself,  as  I  can 
no  longer  revile  that  which  an  irresistible  impulse  forced 
me,  under  certain  conditions,  to  produce,  and  it  is  a  very 
agreeable  feeling  not  to  be  entirely  dissatisfied  with  one- 
self and  one's  contemporaries. 

I  have,  in  these  last  days,  sat  to  work  at  the  Novel 
again,  and  have  every  cause  to  keep  to  it.  The  demands 
which,  through  the  first  volumes,  the  reader  is  entitled  to 
make,  are  really,  in  proportion  to  the  matter  and  form, 
immense.  One  seldom  sees  how  much  one  owes,  until 
one  comes  to  settle  up  accounts  and  pay  off.  But  I  am  in 
good  spirits.  Everything  depends  upon  this — that  I  make 
the  most  of  my  time,  and  miss  no  propitious  mood.  Fare- 
well. 

Weimar,  2üth  Nov.,  1795. 

G. 

CXXVI. 

Jkna,  29ih  Nov.,  1795. 

The  letter  of  Prince  August  has  entertained  me  :  it 
contains,  particularly  for  a  Prince,  much  fine  humor. 

Could  we  not,  through  the  Prince,  obtain,  in  order  to 
translate  it  for  the  Horcn,  Diderot's  tale  La  Rcligieuse, 
which  is  to  be  found  in  the  written  Journal,  and  which,  as 
far  as  I  know,  has  not  yet  been  translated  ?  From  the 
same  Journal  is  taken  also  Jacques  le  Fataliste,  and  it  has 
been  published,  translated  by  linger,  in  Berlin. 

If  it  can  be  done,  I  would  like  to  become  a  member  of 
the  Weimar  Journal  Society,  and  can  furnish  three  jour- 
nals, either 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


115 


Clio,  or 

Posselt's  European  Annals,  or 
Flora. 

If  they  have  these  journals  already,  and  would  not 
wish  to  countermand  them,  I  will  pay  the  common  con- 
tribution in  money. 

It  here  occurs  to  me  that  I  owe  a  half  Carolin  to  Mr. 

 us  (I  don't  know  the  first  syllables  of  his  name),  who 

engraved  for  me  the  seal  for  the  Hoven.  Will  you  be  so 
good  as  to  advance  this  to  him  for  me  ? 

The  St.  Preface  is  execrable.  Such  a  consequential 
shallowness,  a  presumptuous  impotence,  and  an  affected, 
evidently  affected,  piety — even  in  a  Preface  to  Plato  to 
praise  Jesus  Christ ! 

It  is  an  eternity  since  I  heard  from  Jacobi,  although,  out 
of  politeness,  he  should  have  written  to  me  about  some 
small  Poems  I  sent  him,  and  sent  him  at  his  request. 

If  you  happen  not  to  have  despatched  my  treatise  by 
to-day's  post,  have  the  goodness  to  send  it  by  Tuesday, 
that  is,  if  you  do  not  wish  to  keep  it  longer.  I  wish  to 
send  it  to  Humboldt.  I  am  full  of  curiosity  about  your 
opinion  of  it.  When  I  now  look  back,  and  note  how  far 
I  have  ventured  here,  without  leader,  merely  with  the 
help  of  the  principles  which  flow  from  the  body  of  my 
system,  I  am  greatly  rejoiced  at  the  fertility  of  these  prin- 
ciples, and  promise  myself  much  more  from  them  for  the 
future.' 

The  remainder  of  the  treatise,  which  is  just  finished, 
and  which  treats  of  the  Idyls,  is  not  yet  copied.  You 
will  receive  it  to-morrow,  or  the  day  after.  In  January, 
there  will  be  a  supplement  to  the  treatise,  under  the  title, 
on  Insipidity  and  Overstraining  (the  two  rocks  of  the  nalce 


116 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


and  the  sentimental).  In  this  I  have  a  mind  to  start  a 
hare-hunt  in  our  literature,  and  to  regale  especially  some 
good  friends,  such  as  Nicolai  and  company.  Farewell. 

SCH. 

CXXVIII. 

On  the  accompanying  note  you  have  information  con- 
cerning the  Journals  :  you  have  now  only  to  make  the 
necessary  arrangements  with  the  carriers,  and  you  will 
receive  them  regularly. 

Here  are  also  my  Elegies  ;  I  hope  that  you  will  be 
satisfied  with  them ;  I  have  worked  a  good  deal  at  them 
lately  :  but  one  seldom  gets  done  with  one's  own  things, 
and  with  translations  never.  If  you  find  anything  to  re- 
mark upon,  communicate  it  to  me.  It  were  well  if  these 
new  ones  could  appear  together  ;  they  do  not  make,  all  of 
them,  more  than  a  sheet  and  a  half :  the  others  shall  ar- 
rive by  degrees. 

What  provision  have  you  for  the  next  quarter,  and  what 
do  you  hear  of  the  new  subscriptioi*? 

If  you  have  got  back  the  treatise  on  the  Sentimental 
Poets,  I  should  like  to  read  it  once  more  ;  I  have  still 
some  doubts  about  the  conclusion,  and  when  the  spirit 
warms  one,  one  should  at  least  not  conceal  it.  As  the 
whole  is  so  long  and  broad,  it  seems  to  me,  on  closer  re- 
flection, to  terminate  too  narrowly  and  too  much  in  a 
point,  and,  as  this  point  happens  to  come  exactly  betwee' 
me  and  an  old  friend,  it  makes  me  a  little  anxious.  But, 
of  this,  orally.    No  more  to-day  but  farewell. 

Weimar,  9th  December,  1795. 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


117 


CXXIX. 

Jena,  15th  Dec,  1795. 

My  treatise  on  the  Sentimental  Poets,  which  I  had 
twice  copied,  was  sent  to  the  press  three  weeks  ago,  but 
you  need  have  no  anxiety  about  the  conckision.  You 
have  only  read  what  was  then  ready ;  to  that,  however, 
have  been  added  eight  more  pages,  relating  to  the  Idyls, 
with  which  the  treatise  ends  for  the  twelfth  number.  The 
real  conclusion,  however,  will  be  in  the  first  number  of 
the  New  Year.  You  and  Mr.  W.,  therefore,  do  not  fall 
at  the  end,  and,  I  think,  that  when  the  treatise  shall  be 
fairly  concluded,  the  total  impression,  and  the  interest  of 
the  subject,  will  prevent  every  private  reference.  Fare- 
well . 

SCH. 

cxxx. 

Many  thanks  for  the  honorary,*  for  which  here  is  a 
receipt.  It  seems,  that,  as  in  the  partition  of  the  Earth, 
we  poets  were  cut  off  very  short,  an  important  privilege 
was  granted  us,  namely,  that  we  should  be  paid  for  our 
fooleries. 

The  Poem  to  which  I  here  allude,  meets  with  great 
admiration,  and  people  are  very  curious  to  know  who 
wrote  it. 

For  the  rest,  at  present  the  Dogspostdays  \die  Hunds- 
postage]  is  the  work  on  which  our  refined  public  bestows 
its  surplus  of  admiration. 

If  the  treatise  does  not  end  just  with  that  ticklish  note, 

*  Referring  to  a  fee  for  his  Epigrams  published  in  the  Almanac, 
which  S.  had  sent  nim! 


lis 


COriRESrONDLNCE  BETWEEN 


the  effect  of  the  latter  will  thereby  be  diminished,  and  we 
mnst  wait  to  see  what  comes  of  it. 

Have  you  seen  the  accompanying  Hymn  with  Avhich 
yon  have  been  honored  ?  I  have,  at  any  rate,  had  it  co- 
pied. One  perceives,  too,  from  this,  that  one  mnst  in  litera- 
ture imitate  the  sower,  who  only  sowed,  without  regarding, 
where  his  seed  fell. 

Of  the  notes  to  the  Elegies,  we  will  make  as  much  use 
as  the  time  will  permit,  in  so  extraordinary  a  language' 
as  the  German,  there  is  always  something  left  to  desire. 

For  the  January  number  I  would  be  glad  to  work  up 
something,  but  the  Novel,  to  my  comfort,  now  takes  up  all 
my  time.  It  was  necessary  that  this  last  volume  should 
make  itself,  or  it  would  never  have  been  got  through  with, 
and  now  I  am  strongly  urged  on  to  the  finishing  of  it,  and 
the  so  long  collected  and  arranged  pile  begins  at  last  to 
burn. 

I  would  advise  that  the  de  Stael  essay  be  not  postponed 
beyond  February,  because,  at  Easter,  a  translation  will 
probably  be  published.  The  French  copies  are  spreading 
in  Germany. 

Perhaps,  by  March,  I  can  have  ready  the  tale,  of  which 
I  gave  you  a  sketch,  and  take  the  opportunity  of  a  short 
introduction  to  it  to  get  over  the  explanation  of  the  first. 
That  this  does  not  miss  its  aim,  you  will  learn  from  the 
accompanying  letter  from  the  Prince. 

It  were  very  well  if  we  could  make  use  of  the  Re- 
ligieuse  for  the  Horen.  You  can  best  obtain  permission 
to  do  so  through  Herder  ;  I  would  prefer  not  to  ask  for  it, 
because,  on  the  occasion,  my  travesty  of  the  Claron  story 
might  be  thrown  up  to  me. 

IlHand  will  not  come  so  soon  ;  they  are  obliged  by  the 


SCHILLER   AND  GöL'THE. 


119 


Conquerors  to  play  in  Manheim.  About  Easter  he  hopes 
to  come. 

I  am  getting  ready  to  be  able  to  visit  you  at  New  Year, 
for  I  long  much  to  go  through  with  you  the  whole  circle 
of  your  theatrical  labors,  and  thereby  strengthen  myself 
for  the  labors  I  have  before  me.  I  value  therefore  the 
more  your  principles  and  directions,  because  they  insure 
to  me  our  friendly  relation,  and  promise  an  increasing 
concordance  ;  for,  unfortunately,  it  is  oftener  opinions  on 
things,  than  things  themselves,  whereby  men  are  sepa- 
rated, of  which  we  have  daily  in  Weimar  the  most  melan- 
choly examples. 

Farewell,  and  greet  your  dear  Avife  for  me.  Has  any- 
thing been  done  at  the  drawing. 

Weimar,  15th  Dec,  1795. 

G. 

CXXXI. 

Jena,  ITth  December,  1795. 

Ho^v  I  envy  you  your  present  poetical  mood,  which 
permits  you  to  live  in  the  midst  of  your  Novel !  I  have 
not  for  a  long  while  felt  so  prosaic  as  in  these  last  days, 
and  it  is  high  time  that  I  shut  up  for  a  while  the  philoso- 
phical booth.  My  heart  thirsts  for  something  with  a 
flavor. 

It  is  capital  that  the  acute  Prince  here  is  so  completely 
at  fault  about  the  mystical  meaning  of  the  Tale.  I  hope 
you  will  let  him  lie  under  his  delusion  for  a  while  ;  and, 
indeed,  were  you  not  to  do  so,  he  would  not  believe  you 
out  of  your  own  mouth  were  you  to  tell  him  he  was  on  the 
wrong  scent. 

That  the  Hundspostagc  is  at  present  all  the  rage  in 


120 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


Weimar,  is  to  me  pliysiologically  remarkable ;  for  one 
would  never  dream  that  the  same  taste  could  bear  such 
perfectly  heterogeneous  things  as  this  production  and 
Clara  du  Plcsis.  Such  an  instance  of  want  of  character 
in  a  whole  community  I  never  met  with. 

The  little  Poem  you  were  so  kind  to  have  copied  for 
me,  was  sent  to  me  by  its  author  last  summer  in  manu- 
script. I  am  glad  that  here  and  there  one  sees  something 
glow  and  blossom  ;  and  a  public  manifestation  of  this  kind 
is  particularly  agreeable  to  me  just  now,  because  it  will 
greatly  annoy  my  adversaries. 

Cotta,  who  wrote  to  me  a  few  days  since,  can  give  me 
no  information  yet  about  the  new  subscription.  I  how- 
ever refer  favorably  from  the  fact  that  no  orders  have  been 
yet  received  for  discontinuing. 

I  will  endeavor  to  engage  Herder  to  translate  La  Reli- 
gieuse.  The  de  Stael  essay  I  shall  not  defer  later  than 
February.  A  translation  in  the  first  number,  in  which 
there  is  already  a  poetical  one,  would  have  laid  us  open  to 
the  attacks  of  the  gentlemen. 

Farewell.  My  wife  thanks  you  for  your  remembrance. 
Not  much  has  been  yet  done  at  the  drawing. 

Schiller. 

CXXXII. 

I  have  made  as  much  use  as  possible  of  your  kind  and 
judicious  remarks  on  the  Elegies,  which  I  here  send  back  : 
in  this  way  it  is  possible  to  bring  this  kind  of  works  constant- 
ly nearer  to  perfection. 

I  have  in  these  last  days  been  reading  and  studying 
Lawrence  Stark.*    I  cannot  say  that  I  have  been  much 


A  celebrated  novel  by  Engel. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


121 


edified  by  it.  At  first  there  is  an  air  about  it  which  capti- 
vates one,  but  in  the  sequel  it  is  found  lamentably  wanting. 

On  the  other  hand,  I  have  found  the  novels  of  Cervantes 
a  real  pleasure,  as  well  of  entertainment  as  of  instruction. 
How  delightful  it  is  when  one  can  recognize  as  excellent 
that  which  is  generally  so  recognized,  and  how  much 
is  one  furthered  on  one's  way  when  one  meets  with  works 
which  are  constructed  on  those  very  principles  by  which 
— according  to  the  measure  of  our  ability  and  range — we 
ourselves  are  governed  ! 

Farewell.    More  soon. 

Weimar,  Dec.  17,  1795. 

G. 

CXXXIil. 

I  WAIT  with  longing  for  the  new  year,  and  am  striving 
to  get  off  my  hands  a  variety  of  little  matters  in  order  to  be 
able  to  visit  you  again  for  a  short  time  without  hindrance. 
I  hope  that  I  may  find  you  well  and  in  poetical  activity, 
for  after  all  that  is  the  finest  condition  that  it  is  given  man 
to  enjoy.  My  Novel  shall  not  now  rest  until  it  shall  have 
worked  itself  to  its  end,  at  which  I  am  much  rejoiced,  for 
amid  all  kinds  of  occupations  and  distractions  it  goes 
steadily  forward, 

I  have  a  variety  of  things  to  communicate.  Here,  for 
instance,  I  send  you  an  explanation  of  the  dramatic  char- 
acters of  the  tale  by  friend  Charlotte.  Do  send  me 
another  explanation  that  I  may  give  it  to  her  in  return. 

The  idea  which  has  lately  occurred  to  me  of  writing 
epigrams  upon  all  the  periodical  works,  each  in  a  distich, 
like  the  Xenia  of  Martial,  we  must  cultivate,  and  insert  a 
collection  of  them  in  your  Almanac  of  the  Muses  for  the 

6 


122 


CORRESPOXDEXCE  BETWEEN 


next  year.  We  must  write  a  great  many,  and  then  pick 
out  the  best.    Here  are  a  couple  as  a  sample. 

I  have  obtained  within  a  few  days  P.  Caslel's  work, 
Optique  des  Couleurs,  1740  :  the  lively  Frenchman  gives 
me  great  satisfaction.  I  can  hereafter  have  whole  passa- 
ges printed  from  it,  and  prove  to  the  multitude  that  the  true 
nature  of  the  subject  was  publicly  known  in  France  in 
1739,  but  was  suppressed. 

I  have  hastily  added  some  variations  to  the  explanation  : 
if  you  can  still  increase  them,  we  may  expect  from  these 
interpretations  an  endless  confusion. 

The  Xenia  I  will  send  soon. 

Dec.  33, 1795. 

G. 

N.  B.    The  variations  underscored  with  red  are  mine, 
cxxxiv. 

Jena,  Dec.  25,  1795. 

My  best  thanks  for  the  Elegies.  I  think  there  is  now 
nothing  in  them  which  can  give  occasion  to  the  scribblers 
to  be  insensible  to  the  beautiful  spirit  of  the  w^hole  on 
account  of  trivial  defects. 

Lawrence  Stark,  Humboldt  wrote  me,  was  originally 
intended  for  a  comedy,  and  then  accidentally  thrown  into 
the  narrative  form.  It  has  the  merit  of  having  a  light  tone, 
but  it  is  rather  the  lightness  of  the  hollow  than  of  the  beau- 
tiful. "When  minds  like  E.'s*  wish  to  be  true  and  naif 
they  run  such  danger  of  being  flat.  But,  most  divine  flat- 
ness !  that  is  the  very  thing  which  recommends  them. 

Have  you  seen  the  admirable  pictures  of  the  Seiferdorfer 
Valley  with  Becker's  (of  Dresden)  descriptions  1    As  so 


*  Etstckl,  the  author  of  Lawrei  c  ^  Stark. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


123 


great  a  lover  of  ornamental  gardens  and  of  sentimental 
productions  I  recommend  this  work  to  you.  It  merits, 
together  with  Rachnitz's  work,  to  be  worthily  mentioned 
in  the  Horen. 

Herder  refers  me  back  again  to  you  about  la  Religieuse 
of  Diderot :  he  is  moreover  of  opinion,  that  either  it  has 
been  already  translated,  or  that  it  will  appear  next  Easter 
with  other  tales  of  Diderot.  According  to  this  it  would 
not  be  a  safe  undertaking  for  us. 

Heaven  prolong  for  you  the  happy  mood,  in  order  to 
finish  the  Novel.*  I  look  for  the  denouement  with  intense 
expectation,  and  shall  have  a  rare  enjoyment  in  studying 
the  whole. 

The  success  of  my  little  poem,  the  Partition  of  the 
Earth,  must  be  put  to  your  account,  for  I  have  already 
heard  from  many  that  it  is  ascribed  to  you.  On  the  other 
hand,  your  paper  on  Literary  Sansculottism  has  been 
attributed  to  me. 

We  send  you  our  best  wishes  for  Christmas.  Would 
that  you  could  pass  it  here  with  us  !  Farewell. 

SCH. 

CXXXVI. 

29ih  December,  1795. 

The  thought  about  the  Xenia  is  capital  and  must  be  car- 
ried into  effect.  Those  you  s^nt  me  to-day  diverted  me 
much,  particularly  the  gods  and  goddesses.  Such  titles 
help  a  happy  idea.  If,  however,  we  wish  to  complete  the 
hundred,  we  shall  have  to  fall  foul  of  individual  works  ; 
and  what  rich  material  there  is  for  us  !    If  we  do  not  alto- 


*  Wilhelm  Meister. 


124 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


gether  spare  ourselves,  we  may  lay  hold  of  both  the  holy 
and  the  profane.  What  matter  have  we  not  in  the  Stol- 
berg  brotherhood,  Räcknitz,  Ramdohr,  the  metaphysical 
world  with  its  I's  and  not  I's,  friend  Nicolai,  our  sworn 
foe,  the  Leipsig  tavern  of  taste,  Thümmel,  Goeschen  as 
his  master  of  horse,  and  others  of  the  same  stamp  ! 
********* 

Woltmann's  Tragedy  is  wretched  and  in  no  respect 
available  ;  a  thing  without  character,  without  probability, 
without  naturalness.  More  tolerable  is  the  Operette,  but 
even  it  is  only  tolerable  by  the  side  of  the  tragedy.  Have 
you  read  a  work  on  Zoonomy  by  Brandis  ?  In  it  your 
work  on  the  Metamorphosis  is  treated  with  great  respect. 
But  it  is  laughable  that,  because  your  name  is  on  the  title- 
page,  and  you  have  written  novels  and  tragedies,  one  must 
of  course  be  reminded  thereof.  "  A  new  proof,"  thinks 
the  author,  "how  favorable  poetical  genius  is  to  scientific 
truth." 

I  look  forward  to  your  approaching  visit  here  with  no 
little  pleasure.  We  will  once  more  have  a  thorough 
shaking  up  of  everything.  You  wont  fail  to  bring  your 
"  knitting,"  that  is,  the  Novel,  with  you  ?  And  then  we  will 
take  care  that  there  be,  nulla  dies  sine  epigrammate. 

You  speak  of  a  great  dearth  in  the  theatrical  world. 
Has  it  never  occurred  to  you  to  try  a  piece  of  Terence  for 
the  stage  1  Thirty  years  ago  a  man  by  the  name  of  Ro- 
manus  worked  up  very  well  the  Adelplii,  at  least  according 
to  Lessing's  testimony.  For  some  time  past  I  have  been; 
looking  again  into  the  old  Latins,  and  Terence  was  the 
I  first  that  came  into  my  hands.  I  am  translating  extempo- 
raneously to  my  wife  the  Adelphi,  and  the  great  interest  we 
take  in  it  leads  me  to  expect  a  good  result.    This  very 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


125 


piece  possesses  a  noble  truth  and  reality,  lively  action, 
well  marked  characters,  and  throughout  an  agreeable  hu- 
mor. 

The  theatrical  roll  contains  a  vast  mass  of  names  and 
very  little  matter.  For  my  part  I  have  done  very  well : 
but  in  what  company  does  one  behold  oneself!  To  you 
is  magnanimously  attributed  a  Julius  C(Bsar,  for  the  which 
you  will  remain  debtor  to  the  public. 

But  wherein  does  not  friend  P.  write  1  Farewell. 
My  wife  greets  you. 

SCH. 

CXXXVII. 

Productions  like  those  I  send  herewith  you  ought  not 
to  remain  ignorant  of:  probably  they  have  not  yet  reached 
you.  I  beg  you  to  send  me  back  soon  the  Theatrical  Cal- 
endar. 

With  a  hundred  Xenia,  like  the  inclosed  dozen,  we 
could  gain  favor  with  the  public  as  well  as  with  our  col- 
leagues. 

It  is  well  that  the  reviewing  of  the  poetical  portion  of 
the  Horen  has  fallen  into  the  hands  of  a  man  of  the  new 
generation  :  with  the  old  we  shall  never  harmonize.  Per- 
haps I  shall  read  them  with  you,  for,  if  it  be  possible,  I 
shall  leave  this  on  the  third  of  January. 

It  is  very  agreeable  to  me  that  we  are  confounded 
together  in  our  labors  :  it  shows  that  we  are  freeing  our- 
selves more  and  more  of  mannerism  and  are  attaining  to 
what  is  universally  good.  And  then  we  must  consider 
what  a  beautiful  breadth  we  can  cover  if  we  hold  fast  with 
one  hand  and  with  the  other  reach  out  as  far  as  nature  has 
permitted  us  to  reach. 


126 


CORRESPONDEXCE  BETWEEN 


Would  that  Woltmann's  tragedy  were  presentable !  I 
would  bring  it  out  immediately.  Every  one  wishes  to 
write,  and  does  write,  and  yet  we  have  on  the  stage  the 
bitterest  dearth. 

Farewell.  I  strive  to  keep  myself  clear  of  everything 
that  could  detain  and  distract  me  in  order  again  to  pass 
some  profitable  time  near  you. 

Weimar,  23th  Dec,  1795. 

G. 

CXLII. 

1796. 

You  have  surprised  me  very  agreeably  with  the  rich 
store  of  Xenia  w^hich  you  have  sent.  Those  on  Newton 
will,  from  the  subject,  reveal  you  as  their  author ;  but,  on 
a  learned  controversial  matter,  which  touches  not  the 
living,  this  is  of  no  consequence.  Those  which  are 
marked  have  pleased  us  most. 

Could  you  not  honor  our  soi-disant  friend  Reichardt 
with  some  Xenia?  I  have  just  been  reading  a  review  of 
the  Hoven  in  his  Germany,  a  journal  published  by  Unger, 
wherein  he  has  taken  gross  liberties  with  the  Conversa- 
tions and  also  other  papers.  Long  extracts  are  given  from 
the  treatises  of  Fichte  and  Woltmann,  and  both  are  repre- 
sented as  masterly.  The  fifth  piece  (the  worst  of  all)  is 
pronounced  the  most  interesting.  Voss's  Poems  and  the 
Rodian  Genius  of  Humboldt  are  much  extolled,  and  more 
in  the  same  vein.  It  is  written  throughout  with  an  ill- 
concealed  bitterness.  There  is  a  long  criticism  (but  of 
what  character  I  have  not  read)  of  Heinse's  musical  novel, 
as  the  most  important  work  of  modern  German  literature. 

Reichardt,  who  thus  attacks  us  without  any  ground, 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


127 


and  so  unsparingly,  must  be  hit  liard  in  tlie  Horen  like- 
wise. 

Here  are  some  more  arrows  into  the  flesh  of  our  col- 
leagues.   Choose  among  them  those  which  please  you. 
Farewell.    My  wife  sends  her  regards. 

SCH. 

CXLIM, 

*  22(1  January,  1796. 

Here  is  a  small  parcel  of  epigrams.  Those  you  don't 
like  fail  not  to  leave  out.  These  little  jests  are  slower 
work  than  one  would  think :  one  has  not  the  benefit,  as  in 
a  longer  production,  of  a  continuity  of  thoughts  and  feel- 
ings. They  will  not  surrender  their  original  right  as 
happy  thoughts.  I  doubt,  therefore,  whether  I  shall  out- 
strip you  so  much  as  you  expect.  However,  if  I  don't  get 
on  with  them,  I  must  set  myself  down  to  larger  matters, 
and  seize  the  epigrams  as  they  come  up.  But  no  post- 
day  shall  be  empty,  so  that  in  four  or  five  months  we  shall 
have  made  good  progress. 

Your  epigrams  in  the  Almanac  have  great  success.  Of 
this  I  have  constantly  new  manifestations,  and  from  people 
of  whose  judgment  one  need  not  be  ashamed.  That  the 
Almanac  makes  its  way  in  Weimar,  by  the  side  of  the 
Emigrants  and  the  Dogspostdays,  is  to  me  very  consola- 
tory intelligence. 

May  I  trouble  you  with  a  small  commission  ?  I  want 
sixty -three  ells  of  handsome  green  hangings,  and  sixty-two 
ells  of  border,  which  I  leave  entirely  to  your  taste  and 
theory  of  colors.    Could  you  send  Mr.  Gerning  after  it, 


128 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


and  give  the  order  so  that  I  may  have  it  in  six  or  eight 
days  ? 

Farewell.*    My  wife  greets  you. 

SCH. 

To  a  certain  Moral  Poet. 
Yes,  man  is  a  poor  wretched  wight,  I  know :  but  I  wished 
To  forget  it,  and  went — 0  !  how  I  rue  it — to  thee. 

The  Kantian, 
m 

Shall  not  a  hollow  skull  Kantish  phrases  contain  ? 
Did' St  thou  never  in  a  hollow  nut  see  devices  ? 

CXLIV. 

For  the  next  few  days  I  shall  lead  a  bustling  life.  To- 
day the  Duke  of  Darmstadt  and  family  arrive  ;  to-morrow 
dinner,  concert,  supper,  and  ball,  at  Court.  Monday,  Don 
Juan.  The  rest  of  the  week  will  be  occupied  with  re- 
hearsals, for  on  the  30th  we  give  the  Advocates  of  Iffland, 
and  on  the  2d,  the  new  opera.  After  that,  I  will  gather 
myself  up  as  soon  as  possible,  and  see  what  I  can  do. 
Through  this  crowd  of  strange  forms  the  eighth  bookf 
makes  itself  visible  to  me  often,  and  I  hope  with  the 
first  opportunity  to  finish  it. 

In  the  last  Epigrams  you  sent  me  there  is  a  delightful 
humor,  and  I  shall  therefore  have  them  all  copied.  Those 
which  will  not  be  able  to  hold  their  places  in  this  set,  will 
separate  naturally  and  form  a  new  body. 

Farewell,  and  enjoy  the  fine  weather. 

23d  January,  1796. 

G. 

*  The  German  is  Lehen  Sie  recht  wohl,  which,  literally  rendered, 
would  be  Fare  you  right  well. 
t  Of  Wilhelm  Meister. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


129 


CXLV. 

Jena,  24th  January,  1796 . 

For  an  author  who  is  occupied  with  the  catastrophe  of 
a  novel,  with  a  thousand  epigrams  and  two  extensive  nar- 
ratives from  Italy  and  China,  you  have  for  the  coming  ten 
days  a  very  tolerable  quantity  of  distractions.  But  what 
time  takes  from  you,  it  returns  to  you  again  in  material, 
and  in  the  end  you  are  further  advanced  than  I  am,  who 
have  to  suck  my  subjects  out  of  my  nails. 

Woltmann  was  yesterday  three  whole  hours  alone  with 
me,  and  I  managed  so  well  that  not  a  syllable  was  spoken 
of  the  two  dramatic  pieces.  He  was  very  civil,  and  liberal 
of  praise  of  your  works  and  mine, — without,  however, 
awakening  in  me  a  spark  of  commiseration  on  account  of 
his  play. 

Farewell  Here  are  some  more  Xenia,  in  order  that 
the  custom  be  not  departed  from. 

SCH. 

CXLVIII. 

The  first  Act  is  surmounted !  A  show  for  the  ball  of 
yesterday,  which  I  helped  to  arrange.  All  went  off  well, 
although  the  hall  was  full  to  overflowing.  As  everybody 
now  speaks  only  in  distichs,  even  the  Turkish  Count  had 
to  present  his  compliment  to  the  Grand  Duchess  in  this 
form  of  verse,  as  you  will  see  by  the  accompanying  paper. 
Another  party  had  gotten  up  a  procession  of  mixt  maskers, 
among  whom  a  couple  of  jack-o-lanterns  were  admirable. 
They  were  very  neatly  made,  and  as  they  turned  and 
whisked  about,  they  scattered  gold-leaf  and  verses. 

The  distichs  increase  daily  :  they  now  amount  to  nearly 
two  hundred.    I  send  you  the  last  number  of  the  Journal 

6^ 


130 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


of  Fashion,  on  account  of  the  treatise,  page  18,  on  the 
Xenia.  Little  does  the  author  think  that  there  is  one  in 
store  for  him  for  the  next  year.  What  poverty  and  want 
of  tact  these  people  exhibit !  To  give  as  specimens  only 
two  of  such  poems,  and  these  so  vilely  translated  !  It  is 
as  if  everything  genial  fled  from  this  fire-colored  binding. 

I  have  obtained  from  Göttingen  the  treatise  of  Cellini  on 
the  work  of  goldsmiths  and  sculptors.  As  I  am  obliged  to 
read  and  make  extracts  from  it  quickly,  the  little  Biography 
will  probably  be  thereby  furthered.  Farewell.  My 
greeting  to  your  dear  wife. 

I  had  nearly  forgotten  the  best  I  had  to  say  to  you. 
I  have  received  from  Meyer  a  beautiful  and  excellent  let- 
ter, which  exhibits  very  distinctly  his  situation.  Between 
his  irrepressible  disposition  to  do  everything  thoroughly, 
and  at  the  same  time  with  the  minutest  finish,  and  the  im- 
mense quantity  of  subjects  which  he  describes  and  criti- 
cises, together  with  the  attractions  of  others  that  he  would 
like  to  copy,  he  is  in  great  straits.  He  asks  me  for  advice, 
and  I  shall  refer  him  back  to  his  own  genius. 

In  a  letter  to  the  Duchess  Dowager  there  is  an  amusing 
passage  on  those  artists  who  at  present  represent  Kantish 
ideas  in  allegoric  pictures.  If  it  is  anything  more  than 
persiflage,  we  have  the  oddest  phenomenon  that  can  be 
visible  before  the  doomsday  of  art. 

From  your  letter  I  learn  for  the  first  time  that  the 
monthly  journals,  Germany  and  France,  have  an  editor. 
We  have  long  known  this  false  friend,  and  have  been 
indulgent  towards  his  general  ill-conduct  only  because  he 
paid  regularly  his  particular  tribute.  So  soon,  however, 
as  he  gives  indications  of  refusing  this,  we  wdll  send  him 
a  Bashaw  with  three  burning  fox-tails.    A  dozen  distichs 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


131 


are  already  appropriated  to  him,  which  will  reach  you, 
God  willing,  on  Wednesday.  In  the  meantime,  once 
more,  farewell. 

Weimar,  30th  January,  1795. 

G. 

CXLIX. 

31st  January,  1796, 

I  CONGRATULATE  you  on  the  success  of  ihefete :  it  must 
have  been  a  very  pretty  spectacle.  The  jack-o'-lanterns 
diverted  me  particularly. 

Do  bring  Meyer's  letters  with  you  when  you  come  over 
here.  I  am  curious  to  see  how  by  degrees  the  process  of 
precipitation  will  take  place  in  him,  and  his  mind  become 
clarified.  As  the  account  of  the  Kantish  figures  is  only 
given  in  the  letter  to  the  Duchess,  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  it 
is  only  a  joke  :  so  precious  a  piece  of  news  he  would  no 
doubt  have  announced  to  you  more  distinctly. 

You  may  rest  assured  that  Reichardt  is  the  editor  of  the 
journal  Germany,  and  also  that  he  (or  the  reviewer,  which 
to  us  is  all  the  same)  takes  great  liberties  with  the  Con- 
versations, although  he  takes  other  opportunities  in  the 
same  review  to  praise  you  with  puffed  cheeks.  The  pro- 
duction is  indescribably  wretched.  Heinse's  book,  the 
notice  of  which  I  have  since  examined  more  closely,  is 
strongly  condemned,  of  which  I  am  heartily  sorry,  as 
there  is  one  folly  the  less  to  note  down. 

In  the  meanwhile  a  variety  of  ideas  for  our  Xenia  have 
disclosed  themselves  in  ifte,  which,  however,  are  not  yet 
quite  ripe. 

I  think  that  if  you  come  towards  the  end  of  this  week, 
you  will  find  a  hundred  or  more  ready.  We  must  harass 
these  good  people  in  every  allowable  form,  and  even  the 


132 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


poetic  interest  requires  a  great  variety  within  the  limits  of 
one  strict  law  not  to  exceed  a  distich.  Within  a  few  days 
I  have  taken  Homer  in  hand,  and  in  the  judgment  he 
passes  upon  suitors  I  have  discovered  a  glorious  mine 
of  parodies,  which  are  already  in  part  executed  ;  some 
also  I  draw  from  the  art  of  necromancy,  wherewith  to  sting 
deceased  authors,  and  here  and  there  the  living  likewise. 
Reflect  upon  an  introduction  of  Newton  in  the  lower 
world :  we  must  here  also  interlace  our  works  into  each 
other. 

In  the  end  I  thind  we  shall  be  able  to  make  a  comedy 
of  epigrams.    What  think  you  ? 

My  wife  sends  her  best  greetings  to  you.  Do  con\e  as 
soon  as  you  can. 

SCH. 


CL. 

The  first  transcript  of  the  Xenia  is  at  last  finished,  and 
I  will  send  it  immediately,  as  I  cannot  come  to  Jena  before 
the  14th.  They  look  very  well  together  :  it  was,  how- 
ever, advisable  to  have  a  poetical  vein  flow  through  the 
whole  collection.  My  last  ones  are,  as  you  will  find,  very 
prosaic,  which,  seeing  th  principle  of  their  composition, 
cannot  well  be  otherwise. 

I  shall  probably  soon  send  you  the  seventh  book  of  my 
Novel.  I  am  now  only  working  it  up  clean  out  of  the 
first  form  in  which  I  dictated  it.  What  further  will  be  to 
do  on  it  will  be  seen  when  the  eighth  book  shall  be  as  far 
advanced  as  this,  and  we  shall  have  thoroughly  discussed 
the  whole. 

Within  a  few  days  I  have  received  from  Güttingen  the 
work  of  Cellini,  on  the  Mechanical,  in  various  Arts.    It  is] 


SCHÜLLER   AND  GOETHE. 


133 


excellently  written,  and  the  Preface  as  well  as  the  work 
itself  gives  a  fine  insight  into  that  extraordinary  man.  I 
have,  therefore,  gone  to  work  again  on  his  Life ;  but  the 
difficulties  of  the  treatment  remain  still  the  same.  I  will 
just  begin  by  translating  some  interesting  passages,  and 
then  see  what  further  can  be  done.  For  the  rest,  accord- 
ing to  my  matter-of-fact  mode  of  executing  a  Biography, 
the  details  are  all  in  all ;  especially  in  the  case  of  a  pri- 
vate individual,  where  there  are  no  results,  the  breadth  and 
width  of  which  would  at  any  rate  make  an  imposing  show, 
and  also  in  the  case  of  an  Artist,  whose  works — the  per- 
manent effects  of  his  being,  are  not  before  our  eyes. 
Nevertheless,  I  shall,  perhaps,  have  a  good  quantity  pre- 
pared before  I  go  to  see  you,  and  then  it  will  be  more  easy 
to  determine  what  is  to  be  done. 

The  first  representation  of  the  new  Opera  went  off 
happily,  and  we  have  the  approbation  of  the  multitude ; 
and  really  as  a  whole  it  makes  a  very  pretty  effect.  The 
music  is  not  deep,  but  agreeable  ;  the  dresses  and  decora- 
tions told  very  well.  In  a  day  or  two  I  will  send  you  the 
book,  in  order  that  you  may  see  what  a  strange  and  ultra- 
German  direction  the  stage  is  taking.  Farewell,  and 
greet  your  dear  wife  from  me.  My  present  way  of  life 
is  too  bustling  and  material  even  for  the  liveliest  realist, 
and  I  hope  soon  to  be  out  of  it,  and  get  into  port  with  you. 

Weimar,  4th  February,  1796. 

G. 

CLI. 

Jena,  5th  February,  1796. 

It  does  one's  heart  good  to  see  how  the  collection  of 
epigrams  grows  under  our  hands.  I  was  glad  to  find 
several  political  ones  among  the  new  batch ;  for  as  we 


134 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


shall  certainly  be  confiscated  in  all  unsafe  regions,  I  don't 
see  why  we  should  not  deserve  it  on  this  account  also. 
You  will  find  from  forty  to  forty-two  new  ones  by  me  :  I 
keep  back  about  eighty  which  belong  together,  and  which 
are  not  yet  quite  ready.  Reichardt  is  well  taken  care 
of,  but  he  must  be  still  better.  He  must  be  assailed  as  a 
musician,  for  he  is  there  also  not  quite  sound,  and  it  is 
reasonable  that  he  be  pursued  into  his  last  hold,  since  he 
made  war  upon  us  on  our  legitimate  territory. 

I  am  very  glad  to  hear  that  you  propose  to  make  a  be- 
ginning on  Cellini  with  detached  passages.  That  is  the 
best  mode  for  you  to  get  under  way  ;  for  where  the  subject 
admits  of  it,  I  hold  it  to  be  always  better  not  to  begin  with 
the  beginning,  which  is  always  the  most  difficult  and  the 

most  barren. 

***##*#** 

At  the  prospect  of  some  more  of  Meister,  I  rejoice  as 
at  a  feast.  Before  we  talk  over  the  whole,  I  too  must 
familiarize  myself  more  with  what  is  finished. 

Koerner*  writes  me  that  he  hopes  to  come  at  the  end  of 
May,  and  to  spend  a  fortnight  here,  at  which  I  am  much 
rejoiced.  I  am  sure  that  you  also  will  be  pleased  at  his 
stay  here.  As  Schlegel  is  coming  this  spring,  and  Funk 
will  probably  pass  a  month  here,  I  shall  have  a  gay  time 
of  it.    Farewell.    My  wife's  best  greetings. 

ScH. 

CLIV. 

Would  that  you  were  not  so  much  in  want  of  the  pro- 
mised Elegies  !  for  I  can't  get  done  with  them.  For 
eight  days  past  I  have  been  engaged  about  them  and  in 

*  The  father,  I  believe,  of  the  poet. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


135 


consultation  with  Knebel :  thus  has  the  MS.  got  foul 
again,  and  will  have  to  be  re-copied.  If  a  delay  of  eight 
days  were  possible,  they  should  then  be  in  good  trim.  I 
am  sorely  pressed  still,  by  the  Carnival,  and  in  conse- 
quence of  a  fresh  arrival  of  foreign  Princes,  our  theatri- 
cal and  other  entertainments  are  disjointed  and  accumu- 
lated. 

As  I  have  nothing  to  furnish  for  the  third  number,  I  have 
been  looking  through  my  old  papers,  and  have  found 
among  them  some  odd  things,  but  mostly  of  a  personal  or 
ephemeral  character,  and  therefore  not  available.  To 
show  at  least  how  good  my  will  is,  I  send  herewith  a  very 
subjective  journey  in  Switzerland.  Determine  yourself 
how  much  of  it  can  be  used :  perhaps  were  a  tale  of  pas- 
sion invented  to  tack  to  it,  it  would  do.  This  region  has 
been  a  hundred  times  visited  and  described,  still  people 
continue  to  visit  it  and  to  read  the  descriptions  of  it.  Tell 
me  what  you  think.  Of  course  whatever  points  out  the 
individuals  must  be  expunged. 

Farewell.  I  look  forward  with  longing  to  the  moment 
when  I  shall  see  you  again. 

Weimar,  12th  February,  1796. 

G. 

CLVIII. 

Jena,  18th  March,  1796. 

Since  your  absence,  I  have  been  very  tolerable,  and 
shall  be  quite  satisfied  if  I  continue  so  during  my  visit  to 
Weimar.  I  have  been  meditating  on  my  Wallenstein, 
but  have  otherwise  done  no  work.  I  hope  yet  to  bring 
to  light  a  few  Xenia  before  the  period  of  the  note-worthy 
constellation.* 

*  A  playful  reference  apparently  to  their  meeting  in  Weimar. 


136 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


The  preparations  for  so  intricate  a  work  as  a  Drama  is 
set  the  mind  in  motion  in  a  very  extraordinary  manner 
Even  the  very  first  operation,  the  seeking  of  a  certain 
method  in  the  matter,  in  order  that  one's  blows  be  not 
aimless,  is  no  trifle,    I  am  now  upon  the  skeleton,  and 
find  that  in  the  dramatic  structure  as  well  as  in  the  human 
everything  depends  upon  this.    I  should  like  to  know  how 
you  go  to  work  in  such  cases.    With  me  the  conception 
has  at  first  no  decided  or  distinct  body :  this  forms  itself 
only  later.    A  certain  musical  mood  arises  first  in  my 
mind,  and  only  after  this  follows  the  poetical  idea. 

According  to  a  letter  from  C,  Herder  was  to  have  been 
here  to-day.    I  have,  however,  seen  nothing  of  him. 

Farewell.  Here  is  Cellini,  who  was  forgotten  the  day 
before  yesterday.    My  wife  greets  you. 

SCH. 

CLX. 

Jena,  2l3t  April,  1796. 

We  arrived  here  safely  yesterday,  but  with  the  half  o 
my  soul  I  am  still  in  Weimar.    What  good  effect  both 
physically  and  morally  my  visit  there  has  had,  I  feel 
already,  and  no  doubt   it  will  show  itself  in  deed  and 
result.  ■ 

Farewell.  My  wife's  best  regards.  On  Monday  even 
ing,  intoxicated  with  the  representation  of  Egmont,  w 
shall  see  each  other  again. 

ScH. 

CLXiV. 

My  hearty  congratulations  for  the  new  arrival.  Ma 
you  live  to  have  much  joy  in  your  two  boys  !  Give  m 
truest  greetings  to  your  dear  wife. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


137 


If  possible,  I  will  come  next  Saturday  to  visit  you. 
About  the  Novel  we  shall  be  obliged  now  to  confer  orally  ; 
also  about  the  Xenia  and  several  other  matters  which  I 
have  in  my  mind.  Touching  the  former,  the  chief  ques- 
tion will  be,  where  the  Apprenticeship  properly  ends,  and 
in  how  far  there  is  a  purpose  to  make  the  personages  re- 
appear at  a  future  period.  Your  letter,  received  to-day, 
hints  at  a  continuation  of  the  work,  which  accords  with 
my  o\vn  view  and  inclination  ;  but  of  that  orally.  What 
is  necessary  for  the  completion  of  the  past,  must  be  done, 
and  the  future  must  be  indicated ;  but  indentations  must  be 
left,  which,  as  well  as  the  general  plan,  point  to  a  continu- 
ation :  on  this  point  I  wish  to  have  a  full  talk  with  you. 
^  Send  me  nothing  by  the  carrier-women,  and  retain  the 
manuscript.    I  w411  bring  with  me  the  Xenia,  Cellini,  and 

j  perhaps  other  things.  Greet  Schlegel  and  his  wife :  I 
am  glad  that  I  shall  this  time  see  them  both. 

I  have  read  with  great  interest  Herder's  two  new  vol- 

I  umes.  The  seventh  particularly,  seems  to  me  admirably 
conceived,  developed  and  written.  The  eighth,  although 
containing  so  much  that  is  excellent,  does  not  make  one 
feel  right,  nor  did  the  author  feel  right  when  he  wrote  it. 

i     A  certain   reservedness,  a  certain    circumspectness,  a 

i  twisting  and  turning,  a  niggardly  dealing  out  of  praise  and 
blame,  makes  what  he  says  of  German  Literature  par- 
ticularly, very  meager.  It  may  be  owing  to  my  mood  at 
the  time,  but  it  seems  to  me,  that,  as  well  in  treating  of 

•  writings  as  of  actions,  unless  one  speaks  with  a  loving 
sympathy,  a  certain  partial  enthusiasm,  the  result  is  so 
defective  as  to  have  very  little  value.    Pleasure,  delight, 

;  sympathy  in  things,  is  all  that  is  real,  and  that  reproduces 
reality  :  all  else  is  empty  and  in  vain. 


138 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


Farewell,  and  enjoy  in  your  peaceful  valley  the  fine 
weather,  at  least  out  of  the  window. 

Weimar,  14th  June,  1796. 

G. 

CLXVI. 

Jena,  17th  June,  1796. 

I  POSTPONE  the  answers  to  your  welcome  letter  till 
Monday,  and  write  this  to  tell  you  that  this  evening  we 
expect  Voss,  who  has  already  announced  himself  by  a 
note.  He  can  only  remain  one  day,  leaves  us  again  early 
on  Sunday,  and  does  not  go  to  Weimar. 

He  would  like  very  much  to  meet  you.  It  rests  there- 
fore with  you,  whether  you  will  give  him  this  pleasure, 
whereto  we  heartily  invite  you.  He  comes  from  Gibich- 
enstein  and  probably  brings  Reichardt  with  him — a  scene 
at  the  prospect  of  which  I  almost  rejoiced.  Farewell. 

SCH. 

It  is  nearly  10  o'clock  at  night,  and  Voss  is  not  yet 
come  ;  but  I  doubt  not  that  he  will. 

CLXVII. 

I  AM  very  sorry  that  T  shall  not  see  Voss.  One  should 
by  no  means  neglect  to  renew  agreeable  relations  from 
time  to  time  by  personal  intercourse.  Unfortunately,  I 
dare  not  just  now  suffer  my  mind  to  be  diverted  for  a  mo- 
ment from  my  work :  the  Novel  is  in  so  prosperous  a  way 
that  if  it  goes  on  at  this  rate,  you  will  in  eight  days 
receive  the  eighth  book,  and  then  there  were  concluded 
a  singular  epoch  under  singular  aspects. 

Greet  Voss  very  sincerely,  and  renew  also  in  my  name 
a  relation,  which  from  its  nature  can  ahvays  improve^ 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


139 


Should  another  guest*  be  present,  which  I  hope  not,  I 
send  him  the  following  offering  : 

Come  thou  from  Gibichenstein  or  from  Malepartus  ! 

Thou  art  still  no  fox,  thou  'rt  only  half  bear  and  half  wolf 

Farewell  :  greet  your  wife  and  Schlegel.  I  have  much 
to  say  to  you,  and  if  I  have  good  luck,  I  will  put  it  soon 
into  such  forms  that  you  will  be  able  to  use  it  for  the 
Horen  and  Almanac.  Adieu, 

Weimar,  18th  June,  1796. 

G. 

I  was  near  forgetting  to  tell  you  that  Richter  is  here. 
He  is  going  to  visit  you  with  Knebel,  and  I  am  sure  you 
will  be  pleased  with  him. 

CLXVIII. 

Jena,  18lh  June,  1796. 

Yoss  is  not  yet  here,  at  least  I  have  as  yet  seen  nothing 
of  him.  As  I  much  doubt  whether  you  will  come,  I  will 
send  off  this  letter,  having  a  good  opportunity. 

The  Idyl  affected  me  as  fully,  nay  more  fully  at  the 

second  reading  than  at  the  first.    It  is  undoubtedly  one  of 

the  most  beautiful  of  your  productions,  such  simplicity  has 

it  united  with  an  unfathomable  depth  of  sensibility.  * 
***** 

Herder's  book  made  on  me  very  much  the  impression  it 
did  on  you,  except  that  with  this,  as  mostly  with  his  writ- 
ings, I  lose  always  more  of  what  I  thought  I  possessed 
than  I  gain  in  new  realities.  By  aiming  ever  to  bind  to- 
gether and  unite  what  others  separate,  he  has  the  effect  of 
disturbing  rather  than  calming  me.  Hi*  irreconcilable 
hostility  to  rhyme  is  carried,  I  think,  much  too  far,  and 


Meaning  Reichardt. 


140 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


what  he  adduces  against  it,  seems  to  me  altogether  insuf- 
ficient. Be  the  origin  of  rhyme  ever  so  common  and  un- 
poetical,  one  must  still  look  to  the  impression  it  makes, 
and  this  is  not  to  be  reasoned  away  by  any  argument. 

In  his  confessions  about  German  literature,  I  am  dis- 
pleased not  only  with  his  coldness  for  what  is  good,  but 
also  with  his  strange  tolerance  for  what  is  bad.  He 
speaks  with  the  same  respect  of  a  Nicolai,  an  Eschen- 
burg, and  others  of  that  class,  as  of  the  most  important 
authors  ;  and  in  an  extraordinary  manner  he  throws  the 
Stolbergs  and  myself,  Kosegarten,  and  I  don't  know  how 
many  others,  all  into  the  same  pot.  His  veneration  for 
Kleist,  Gerstensberg  and  Gessner,  and  generally  for  all 
who  are  dead  and  mouldered,  is  equal  to  his  coldness  to- 
wards the  living.       #       #       #       #  * 

Farewell.  My  wife's  best  greetings  to  you.  Her 
health  is  much  the  same. 

SCH. 

CLXX. 

I  HAVE  received  your  dear  and  valued  letters,  together 
with  the  biscuit,  and  as  to-day  my  task  at  the  Novel  is 
finished  early,  I  will  dictate  this  letter  in  advance  for  to- 
morrow . 

The  eighth  Book  continues  to  make  uninterrupted  pro- 
gress. And  when  one  reflects  on  the  concurring  circum- 
stances whereby  what  was  almost  impossible  has  been 
brought  about  in  a  perfectly  natural  way,  one  might  almost 
become  supersütious.  So  much  is  certain,  that  the  long 
habit  of  availing  myself  at  the  moment  of  resources,  ac- 
cidental events,  moods,  and  whatever  of  agreeable  or 
disagreeable  comes  over  one,  stands  me  now  in  good 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


141 


stead.  Nevertheless,  my  hope  to  be  able  to  send  it  to  you 
next  Saturday,  seems  to  have  been  over-hasty. 

Your  poem,  the  Complaint  of  Ceres,  has  brought  to  my 
mind  again  various  attempts  I  had  made  to  verify  by 
scientific  proofs  the  idea  you  have  taken  up  and  handled 
so  favorably.  Some  of  the  experiments  were  unexpect- 
edly successful,  and,  as  I  foresee  that  during  these  fine 
summer  months  I  shall  be  able  to  remain  at  home  some 
time,  I  have  already  made  arrangements  for  raising  a 
number  of  plants  in  the  dark,  and  will  then  compare  the 
results  with  what  is  already  known. 

That  Voss  did  not  come,  I  don't  like  in  him,  particular- 
ly as  you  and  he  are  not  yet  personally  acquainted,  as  I 
learn  from  your  letter.  This  is  a  kind  of  neglect  and  in- 
attention, such  as  most  of  us  when  young  will  be  guilty 
of ;  against  which,  however,  one  should  as  much  as  possi- 
ble guard  oneself,  when  one  has  come  to  knovv'  how  to 
value  men.  Probably,  however,  Reichardt  prevented 
him  from  coming ;  for  it  is  evident  enough  that  R.  cannot 

be  satisfied  with  his  position  in  regard  to  us. 

*#****#*# 

I  am  glad  that  on  a  closer  inspection  the  Idyl  holds  its 
own.  For  the  jealousy  at  the  end,  I  have  two  reasons. 
One  from  Nature  ;  because  every  unexpected  and  unde- 
served good  fortune  in  love  has  always  at  its  heels  the  fear 
of  deprivation  :  and  one  from  Art ;  because  the  Idyl  has 
throughout  a  pathetic  movement,  and  therefore  the  pas- 
sionate character  must  increase  in  strength  till  towards  the 
conclusion,  when,  by  the  parting  bow  of  the  poet,  the 
poem  is  led  back  to  the  moderate  and  cheerful.  So  much 
in  justification  of  the  inexplicable  instinct  through  which 
such  things  are  produced. 


142 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


Richter  is  so  complicated  a  being,  that  I  cannot  take  the 
time  to  tell  you  what  I  think  of  him.  You  must  and  will 
see  him,  and  then  we  will  discuss  him  together.  Here 
he  shares  the  same  fate  as  his  works  :  now  he  is  rated 
too  high,  and  now  too  low,  and  no  one  knows  what  to 
make  of  the  singular  creature. 

Cellini*  goes  on  bravely,  and,  as  it  suits  our  conveni- 
ence, let  us  work  the  iron  so  long  as  it  keeps  warm.  Let 
me  know  when  you  want  another  supply  of  it. 

Herewith  I  send  you  a  pasquil,  which  will  lead  you 
into  a  quite  peculiar  world,  and  which,  though  very  un- 
even, contains  some  capital  jokes,  and  berates  wildly 
enough  certain  silly  people,  flatterers,  cits  and  pedants. 
Let  no  one  see  it,  and  send  it  immediately  back  to  me. 

22d  June,  1796. 

G. 

CLXXII. 

#***#**#* 

You  will  receive  the  Novel  the  beginning  of  next  week, 
through  a  special  carrier,  who  can  bring  back  the  Xenia 
if  you  have  them  ready.  Read  the  manuscript  first  with 
friendly  enjoyment,  and  then  critically,  and  acquit  me  if 
you  can.  Many  passages  ask  for  more  finish,  many  re- 
quire it,  and  yet  I  scarcely  know  what  to  do ;  for  the 
demands  which  this  eighth  Book  makes  upon  me  are  end- 
less, and  ought  not,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  thing, 
to  be  fully  satisfied,  although  everything  should  to  a  cer- 
tain degree  be  cleared  up.  My  whole  trust  is  in  your 
requisitions  and  your  justification.    The  manuscript  has 

*  The  autobiography  of  Benvenuto  Cellini,  the  translation  of 
which,  by  Goethe,  first  appeared  in  the  Horen. 


SCHILLER   AND   GOETHE.  143 

swelled  under  my  hands,  and  if  I  had  wished  to  be  more 
diffuse,  and  had  poured  in  more  of  the  water  of  reasoning, 
I  might  very  conveniently  have  made  out  of  this  last 
volume  two  :  may  then  its  effect  in  its  condensed  form  be 
better  and  more  enduring  ! 

Farewell,  and  greet  your  wife  from  me,  and  write  me 
soon  how  you  both  are. 

Weimar,  25th  June,  1796. 

G. 

CLXXIV. 

27th  June. 

Hearty  thanks  for  the  package.  It  finds  me  in  a 
cheerful  mood,  and  I  hope  to  enjoy  it  with  my  whole  soul. 

The  taking  leave  of  a  long  and  important  work  is 
always  more  sad  than  joyful.  The  stretched  faculties 
relapse  too  quickly,  and  the  mind  cannot  immediately  fix 
iiself  on  a  new  subject.  The  best  for  you  now  would  be 
to  have  something  to  act,  and  work  upon  a  living  material. 

I  send  by  the  carrier  as  many  of  the  Xenia  as  are 
ready.  I  have  left  about  eighty,  which  the  carrier-girl 
shall  take.  To  these,  which  are  all  friendly,  I  am  just 
now  busy  in  adding  some  new  ones,  which  a  happy  mood 
has  offered  me.  Upon  the  whole,  I  am  in  hopes  that  the 
conclusion  will  not  be  bad.  Among  those  herewith  sent, 
you  will  find  about  a  hundred  new  acquaintances,  and  will 
miss  some  old  ones.  Why  these  latter  have  been  omitted, 
I  will  tell  you  orally.  Strike  out  without  forbearance,  all 
that  are  on  any  account  objectionable  to  you.  Our  provi- 
sion will  bear  a  severe  choice. 

In  order  to  increase  the  number  of  the  poetical  and 
friendly  Xenia,  I  wish  I  could  be  the  means  of  making 
you  take  a  range  through  the  best  antiques  and  the  beau- 


144 


CORRESPONDENCE  EETWEEN 


tiful  Italian  paintings.  These  forms  live  in  your  soul,  an^ 
a  propitious  mood  would  furnish  you  a  fine  thought  on  each 
one  of  them.  They  are  the  more  suitable  material,  from 
their  individuality. 

Farewell.  Rejoice  in  life  and  your  work.  Who  in  the 
world  has  more  cause  for  joy  ? 

My  wife  greets  you  heartily,  and  is  full  of  curiosity 
about  the  eighth  Book. 

SCH. 

CLXXV, 

Expect  from  me  to-day  nothing  definitive  as  to  the 
impression  which  the  eighth  Book  has  made  on  me.  I 
am  disturbed  and  I  am  satisfied.  Longing  and  repose  are 
strangely  mingled.  Out  of  the  mass  of  impressions  which 
I  have  received,  the  most  prominent  at  this  moment  is  the 
image  of  Mignon.  Whether  this  so  strongly  interested 
feeling  is  stronger  than  it  ought  to  be,  I  am  not  yet  able 
to  say.  It  may  be  moreover  accidental,  for,  on  opening 
the  manuscript,  my  eye  fell  first  on  the  song,  and  this 
affected  me  so  deeply,  that  I  could  not  afterwards  remove 
the  impression. 

In  the  total  efiect,  this  seems  to  me  most  worthy  of 
note  ;  that  earnestness  and  sorrow  sink  everywhere  like  a 
play  of  shadows,  and  over  them  light  humor  gets  full 
mastery.  This  is  partly  explicable  from  the  soft  and  light 
execution  ;  I  think,  however,  I  discern  another  reason  for 
it  in  the  theatrical  and  romantic  bringing  together  and 
relative  disposition  of  the  incidents.  The  pathetic  calls 
to  mind  the  Novel,  all  else  the  truth  of  life.  The  most 
painful  blows  the  heart  receives  are  soon  forgotten,  how- 
ever sharply  they  be  felt,  because  they  were  brought  about 


SCHILLER   AND  GOKTHE. 


145 


by  something  wonderful,  and  on  this  account  remind  one 
the  quicker  of  Art.  Be  it  as  it  will,  this  much  is  cer- 
tain, that  in  the  Novel  earnestness  is  merely  sport,  and 
sport  the  only  real  earnestness ;  that  pain  is  appearance, 
and  repose  the  only  reality. 

Frederick,  who  is  so  wisely  laid  up  in  store,  who,  at 
the  end,  by  his  turbulence,  shakes  from  the  tree  the  ripe 
fruit,  and  blows  together  what  belongs  together,  appears  at 
the  catastrophe  just  like  one  who  wakes  us  out  of  an  un- 
easy dream  by  laughing.  The  dream  flees  to  the  other 
shadows,  but  its  image  remains,  to  impart  a  higher  spirit 
to  the  present,  and  a  poetical  consistency,  an  infinite 
depth,  to  the  repose  and  cheerfulness.  This  depth, 
united  with  a  calm  surface,  which  is  generally  so  peculiar 
to  you,  is  an  eminent  feature  of  the  present  Novel. 

But  I  will  not  permit  myself  to  say  more  to-day,  how- 
ever strong  my  impulse  to  do  so  ;  for  I  could  not  yet  give 
you  anything  mature.  If  you  could  send  me  the  first  plan 
of  the  seventh  Book,  whereof  a  copy  was  made  for  lin- 
ger,* it  would  be  very  serviceable  to  me  in  following  the 
whole  in  all  its  details.  Although  it  is  still  fresh  in  my 
memory,  some  fine  threads  of  connection  may  have  es- 
caped me. 

I  perceive  very  clearly  how  admirably  this  eighth  Book 
connects  itself  with  the  sixth,  and  how  much  is  gained  by 
the  anticipation  of  the  last.  I  would  not  desire  any  other 
arrangement  of  the  story  than  just  this.  We  have  known 
the  family  so  long  before  it  really  appears,  that  we  seem 
to  take  up  an  acquaintanceship  without  a  beginning  :  it  is 
a  kind  of  optical  stroke  of  art  that  has  an  excellent  eflfect. 


*  A  publisher. 
7 


146 


C  0  n  r.  R  S  P  O  X  D  E  N  C  E   B  E  T  W  E  E  x\ 


What  capital  uso  yon  have  made  of  the  Grandfather's 
Collection  of  Pictures :  it  plays  the  part  of  a  real  per- 
sonage, and  is  like  a  living  thing. 

But,  enough  for  to-day.  On  Saturday,  I  hope  to  say 
more  to  you. 

Farewell.  Hearty  greetings  from  my  wife,  who  is  just 
now  deep  in  the  Novel. 

I  have  not  yet  written  you  aught  of  Hesperus.*  I 
found  him  pretty  much  as  I  expected  him  ;  strange,  as 
one  fallen  out  of  the  moon,  full  of  good  will,  and  heartily 
disposed  to  see  things  around  him,  only  not  with  the  organ 
with  which  one  sees.  However,  I  had  but  one  conversa- 
tion with  him,  and  can  therefore  as  yet  say  little  of  him. 

Jena,  28th  June,  1796. 

Son. 

CLXXVI. 

Heartily  rejoiced  am  I  that  we  have  at  last  reached 
this  epoch,  and  that  your  first  utterance  on  the  eighth 
Book  has  reached  me.  Of  inestimable  value  to  me  is 
your  testimony,  that  on  the  whole  I  have  produced  what 
is  conformable  to  my  nature,  and  also  conformable  to  the 
nature  of  the  work.  Herewith  I  send  the  seventh  Book, 
and  shall  zealously  set  to  work  again  on  the  eighth  so 
soon  as  I  shall  know  more  fully  your  opinions. 

For  about  eight  days  my  time  will  be  consumed  by  out- 
ward occupations,  which  is  very  well,  for  in  the  end,  what 
with  so  much  fiction,  oneself  would  turn  into  a  fable.  Af- 
ter that,  the  Xenia,  Cellini  and  the  Novel,  shall  share 
amongst  them  what  is  left  of  July.  I  have  almost  adopted 
your  mode  of  life,  and  scarcely  go  out  of  the  house. 

*  Richter,  thus  designated  after  one  of  his  novels. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


147 


I  am  glad  that  you  have  seen  Richter :  his  love  of 
truth,  and  his  desire  to  improv^e  himself,  interested  me  in 
him.  But  the  jovial  man  is  a  kind  of  theoretical  being, 
and  when  I  reflect  on  it,  I  doubt  whether  Richter  will 
ever  approach  us  in  practice,  although  his  theoretical 
views  would  seem  to  promise  it. 

Farewell,  and  let  us  write  much  to  one  another  this 
next  month,  for  what  is  to  be  accomplished  requires  much 
encouragement. 

Weimar,  29th  June,  1796. 

G. 

CLXXVIII. 

Jena,  2d  July,  1796. 

I  HAVE  now  gone  through  again,  though  rapidly,  all  the 
eight  Books  of  the  Novel,  whereof  the  quantity  alone  is  so 
great  that  it  occupied  me  two  days.  Properly,  therefore, 
I  ought  not  to  WTite  about  it  to-day  ;  for  the  surprising  and 
unparalleled  variety  that  is,  in  the  strictest  sense,  conceal- 
ed in  it,  overwhelms  me.  I  acknowledge  that,  as  yet, 
although  the  continuity  of  it  is  clear  to  my  mind,  the  unity 
is  not :  I  doubt  not  however  in  the  least  that  it  will  be ; 
and,  indeed,  in  Avorks  of  this  class,  continuity  constitutes 
more  than  half  of  the  unity. 

As  under  these  circumstances  you  cannot  expect  from 
me  anything  fully  satisfactory,  and  yet  desire  to  have 
something,  you  must  be  content  with  remarks  put  together 
without  method,  which,  however,  will  not  be  entirely 
without  value,  inasmuch  as  they  will  give  you  my  present 
impressions.  A  worthy  and  truly  ce^iÄefzc  estimate  of  the 
whole  work,  as  a  work  of  art,  is  a  great  undertaking. 
The  coming  four  months  I  shall  devote  to  it  entirely,  and 


148 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


with  delight.  Meanwhile,  I  account  it  the  most  fortunate 
incident  of  my  existence,  that  I  have  lived  to  see  the  com- 
pletion of  this  work  ;  that  this  has  taken  place  while  my 
faculties  are  still  capable  of  improvement ;  that  I  can  yet 
draw  from  this  pure  spring  ;  and  the  beautiful  relation  there 
is  between  us  makes  it  a  kind  of  religion  with  me  to  feel 
towards  what  is  yours  as  if  it  were  my  own,  and  so  to 
purify  and  elevate  my  nature  that  my  mind  may  be  a  clear 
mirror,  and  that  I  may  thus  deserve,  in  a  higher  sense, 
the  name  of  your  friend.  How  strongly  have  I  felt  on 
this  occasion  that  the  Excellent  is  a  power  ;  that  by  selfish 
natures  it  can  be  felt  only  as  a  power  ;  and  that  only  where 
there  is  disinterested  love  can  it  be  enjoyed. 

I  cannot  describe  to  you  how  deeply  the  truth,  the  beau- 
tiful vitality,  the  simple  fulness  of  this  work,  has  affected 
me.    The  excitement  into  which  it  has  thrown  my  mind 
will  subside  when  I  shall  have  perfectly  mastered  it,  an 
that  will  be  an  important  crisis  in  my  being.    This  excite 
ment  is  the  effect  of  the  Beautiful,  and  only  the  Beautif 
and  proceeds  thence,  that  my  intellect  is  not  yet  entirel 
in  accordance  with  my  feelings.    I  understand  now  per 
fectly  what  you  mean  when  you  say  that  it  is  strictly  th 
Beautiful,  the  True,  that  can  move  you  even  to  tears 
Tranquil  and  deep,  clear,  and  yet  like  nature  unintelligible 
is  this  work ;  and  all,  even  the  most  trivial  collateral  inci 
dent,  shows  the  clearness,  the  equanimity  of  the  min 
whence  it  flowed. 

But  I  cannot  yet  give  fit  expression  to  my  impressions 
and  shall  therefore  confine  myself  to  the  eighth  Book 
How  did  you  succeed  in  drawing  together  again  so  closel 
the  large  and  widely  separated  circle  and  scene  of  actio 
of  persons  and  events  ?    The  work  is  like  a  planetary  sys 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


149 


tern  :  all  is  bound  together,  and  the  Italian  personages, — 
like  comets,  and  as  fearfully  as  these, — unite  the  system  to 
a  more  remote  and  a  greater  one.  These  personages, 
too,  as  well  as  Marianna  and  Aurelia,  run  out  of  the  sys- 
tem, and  separate  themselves  from  it  as  existences  foreign 
to  it,  after  they  have  served  only  to  give  to  it  a  poetical 
movement.  How  beautifully  conceived  it  is,  to  derive  the 
practically  monstrous,  the  fearfully  pathetic,  in  the  fate  of 
Mignon  and  the  Harper,  from  the  theoretically  monstrous, 
from  the  abortions  of  the  understanding,  so  that  nothing  is 
thereby  laid  to  the  charge  of  pure  and  healthy  Na- 
ture !  Superstition  alone  gives  birth  to  the  horrid  fates 
that  pursue  Mignon  and  the  Harper.  Even  Aurelia  is 
ruined  only  through  her  masculine  character,  her  unnatu- 
ralness. 

Wilhelm's  aberration  to  Teresa  is  admirably  conceived, 
originated,  executed,  and  still  more  admirably  turned  to 
account.  Many  a  reader  will  be  at  first  alarmed  at  it,  for 
I  anticipate  few  well-wishers  to  Teresa ;  the  more  per- 
fectly do  you  rescue  him  from  his  disquietude.  I  cannot 
conceive  how  this  false  relation  could  have  been  dissolved 
more  tenderly,  delicately  and  nobly.  How  the  Richard- 
sons  and  others  would  have  delighted  to  make  a  scene  out 
•  of  it,  and  in  the  display  of  delicate  sentiments  have  been 
downright  indelicate  !  I  have  only  one  little  doubt  in  con- 
nection with  it :  Teresa's  bold  and  determined  opposition 
to  the  party  that  wishes  to  rob  her  of  her  lover,  even 
though  the  possibility  is  thereby  re-opened  to  her  of  pos- 
sessing Lothario,  is  perfectly  natural  and  excellent ;  also, 
that  Wilhelm  manifests  a  deep  indignation  and  a  certain 
pain  at  the  vexations  of  men  and  of  fate,  I  think  well- 
founded  ; — only,  it  seems  to  me,  he  should  complain  less 


150 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


of  the  loss  of  what  had  already  begun  to  cease  being  a 
piece  of  good  fortune  for  him.  By  the  side  of  Natalia,  it 
seems  to  me,  his  re-acquired  liberty  ought  to  be  a  higher 
good  than  he  shows.  I  feel  fully  the  complicated  nature 
of  this  situation,  and  what  delicacy  demanded,  but  on  the 
other  hand  it  olTends  in  some  degree  the  delicacy  due  to 
Natalia  that  he  is  still  inclined,  having  obtained  her,  to 
lament  the  loss  of  a  Teresa. 

What  I  particularly  admire  in  the  concatenation  of  the 
incidents,  is  the  skilful  use  you  have  made  of  the  false 
relation  of  Meister  to  Teresa,  in  order  the  more  speedily 
to  reach  the  true  and  desired  aim,  the  union  of  Natalia  and 
Meister.  This  course,  which  threatened  to  lead  from  the 
wished-for  end,  is  the  very  one  to  bring  it  about  most 
becomingly  and  naturally.  Now  it  may  be  pronounced 
with  the  highest  degree  of  propriety  and  purity  that  Wil- 
helm and  Natalia  belong  the  one  to  the  other,  and  the  let 
ters  of  Teresa  to  Natalia  prepare  the  way  for  it  most  aptly 
Contrivances  of  this  kind  are  of  the  highest  beauty,  for 
they  reconcile  all  that  it  is  desirable  to  reconcile,  nay 
what  appears  almost  irreconcileable  ;  they  entangle  and 
carry  within  themselves  the  solution,  they  at  once  disturb 
and  lead  to  repose,  they  reach  the  end  while  they  seem  to 
be  forcibly  bearing  you  from  it. 

Mignon's  death,  though  we  are  so  well  prepared  for  it 
has  a  powerful  and  deep  effect,  so  deep,  that  to  many  yo 
will  seem  to  quit  it  too  soon.  At  the  first  reading  this  was 
my  very  strongly  impressed  feeling  ;  at  the  second,  where 
th6re  was  no  longer  surprise,  this  impression  was  weaker 
still,  however,  I  fear  that  you  may  here  have  gone  a  hair's 
breadth  too  far.  Just  before  this  catastrophe  Mignon  ha 
begun  to  appear  more  developed  and  more  womanly,  an 


SCHILLER   AXD  GOETHE. 


151 


tli(3reby  to  be  for  her  own  sake  more  interesting  :  the  repul- 
sive heterogeneity  of  her  being  had  relaxed,  and  with  the 
relaxation  had  subsided  that  forbidding  impetuosity  of  her 
nature.  Especially  did  that  last  song  melt  the  heart  into 
the  deepest  emotion.  It  appears,  therefore,  odd,  when 
immediately  after  the  exciting  scene  of  her  death,  the  phy- 
sician makes  an  experiment  upon  her  corpse,  and  can  so 
quickly  forget  this  animated  being,  in  order  to  regard  her 
as  the  instrument  of  an  artistic  trial ;  it  seems  equally  sin- 
gular that  Wilhelm,  who  is,  too,  the  cause  of  her  death, 
and  who  also  knows  it,  should  at  such  a  moment  have 
eyes  for  that  bag  of  instruments,  and  be  able  to  lose  him- 
self in  the  recollection  of  past  scenes,  while  the  present 
^hould  possess  him  wholly. 

Should  3^ou  be  able  to  justify  yourself  entirely  in  the 
I     case  towards  Nature,  T  yet  doubt  whether  you  will  be  able 
1     to  do  so  towards  the  "  sentimental"  requisitions  of  readers, 
I     and  therefore  I  would  advise  you  to  have  some  regard  to 
I     this,  in  order  not  to  injure  by  aught  the  impression  on  the 
reader  of  a  scene  so  vv^onderfully  prepared  and  executed. 
Everything  else  relating  to  Mignon,  whether  alive  or 
I     dead,  strikes  me  as  uncommonly  fine.    How  admirably 
I     suited  is  this  pure  and  beautiful  being  to  this  poetical  fune- 
}     ral !    In  her  isolated  condition,  her  mysterious  existence, 
I     her  purity  and  her  innocence,  she  represents  so  purely  the 
[     period  of  life  on  which  she  has  just  entered,  that  she 
excites  the  most  unmixed  melancholy  and  a  thoroughly 
human  sorrow,  because  naught  but  humanity  was  mani- 
fested in  her.    What  in  the  case  of  any  other  individual 
would  be  imperfect,  nay  revolting,  becomes  here  sublime 
and  noble. 

1  should  like  to  have  had  the  appearance  of  the  Mar- 

i 


152 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


quis  in  the  family  brought  about  by  something  else  than 
his  love  of  the  Arts.  By  the  organization  of  the  whole 
you  have  yourself  spoilt  the  reader,  and  justified  him  in 
making  severer  demands  than  one  is  generally  authorized 
to  make  in  novels.  Could  not  this  Marquis  be  made  an 
old  acquaintance  of  Lothario  or  the  uncle,  and  his  journey 
thither  be  woven  more  into  the  whole  ? 

The  catastrophe,  as  well  as  the  whole  history  of  the 
Harper,  awakens  the  deepest  interest.  I  have  already 
mentioned  how  admirable  I  think  it,  that  you  deduce  the 
horrible  fate  of  the  Harper  and  Mignon  from  religious  ex- 
travagance. The  idea  of  the  Confessor,  to  paint  a  slight 
transgression  as  something  monstrous,  in  order  to  obtain 
expiation  for  a  great  crime  which  he  conceals  out  of 
humanity,  is  heavenly  in  its  kind,  and  is  a  worthy  repre- 
sentative of  this  whole  way  of  thinking.  Perhaps  you 
could  shorten  a  little  Sperate's  story,  as  it  falls  near  the 
end,  when  one  gets  more  impatient. 

That  the  Harper  is  Mignon's  father,  and  that  you  your- 
self do  not  directly  declare  it,  do  not  thrust  it  on  the  reader, 
produces  the  more  effect.  One  makes  one's  own  reflec- 
tions on  it,  recollects  how  near  together  those  two  myste- 
rious beings  lived,  and  looks  down  into  an  unfathomable 
abyss  of  fate. 

But  nothing  more  for  to-day.  My  wife  incloses  a  note, 
and  tells  you  the  impressions  made  on  her  by  the  eighth 
Book. 

Now  farewell,  my  dear,  my  honored  friend.  How  it 
moves  me  to  think  that  what  we  seek  and  scarcely  find  in 
the  far  distance  of  a  favored  antiquity,  is  to  me  present  in 
you !  Be  surprised  no  longer  that  there  are  so  few  capable 
and  worthy  of  understanding  you.  The  wonderful  natural- 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


153 


ness,  tnith,  and  lightness  of  your  descriptions  precludes, 
in  the  common  herd  of  judges,  all  thought  of  the  difficulty, 
the  greatness  of  Art ;  and  upon  those  who  are  able  to  un- 
derstand the  artist,  who  perceive  the  means  with  which  he 
works,  the  genial  power  which  they  see  in  action,  operates 
with  such  a  hostile,  annihilating  effect,  compresses  their 
barren  self  into  so  small  a  compass,  that  they  angrily 
thrust  the  work  from  them ;  yet  in  their  hearts,  though 
de  mauvaise  grace,  they  are  your  liveliest  worshippers. 

Son. 

CLXXIX. 

Jena,  3d  July,  1796. 

I  HAVE  now  well  weighed  in  all  its  bearings  Wilhelm's 
conduct  on  the  loss  of  Teresa,  and  take  back  all  my  scru- 
ples. Just  as  it  is,  it  must  be.  You  have  shown  therein 
the  highest  delicacy,  without  in  the  slightest  degree  vio- 
lating truth  of  feeling. 

It  is  wonderful  how  beautifully  and  truly  discri- 
minated are  the  three  characters  of  the  Canoness^ 
Natalia,  and  Teresa.  The  first  two  are  saints,  the  last 
two  are  genuine  human  beings  ;  but  on  this  very  account, 
that  Natalia  is  at  once  holy  and  human,  does  she  appear 
as  an  angel,  while  the  Canoness  is  merely  a  saint  and 
Teresa  entirely  earthly.  Natalia  and  Teresa  are  both 
realists  ;  but  in  Teresa  is  exhibited  also  the  contractedness 
of  realism  ;  in  Natalia  only  its  solidity.  How  fine  it  is  that 
Natalia  has  no  knowledge  of  love  as  an  aflfection,  as  some- 
thing exclusive  and  particular,  because  love  is  her  nature, 
her  permanent  character  !  Nor  does  the  Canoness  know 
properly  what  love  is,  but  from  an  entirely  different  cause. 

If  I  have  rightly  understood  you,  it  is  by  no  means 
7* 


154 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


without  design  that  you  make  Natalia  pass  from  the  con- 
versation about  love,  and  her  own  inexperience  of  this 
passion,  directly  into  the  Hall  of  the  Past.  The  mood 
produced  by  this  Hall  is  precisely  that  to  lift  one  above  all 
passion :  the  repose  of  beauty  takes  possession  of  the 
soul,  and  this  gives  the  best  key  to  Nature's  nature,  so  free 
from  love,  and  yet  so  full  of  love. 

This  Hall  of  the  Past  unites  the  aesthetic  world,  the 
realm  of  shadows  in  the  ideal  sense,  in  a  noble  manner 
with  the  living  and  real ;  as  generally,  whenever  you  in- 
troduce works  of  art,  they  combine  admirably  with  the 
whole.  It  is  so  glad  and  free  a  step  out  of  the  constrained 
and  narrow  Present,  and  yet  reconducts  us  back  to  it  so 
beautifully.  The  transition  likewise  to  the  middle  Sar- 
cophagus, to  Mignon,  and  to  the  real  story,  is  of  the  high- 
est effect.  The  inscription,  think  how  to  live  [gedenke  zu 
leben],  is  admirable,  and  is  the  more  so,  because  it  calls  to 
mind  the  detestable  memento  mori,  and  triumphs  over  it 
beautifully. 

The  uncle,  with  his  singular  idiosyncrasies  for  certain  • 
natural  objects,  is  highly  interesting.  Precisely  such  na- 
tures have  so  marked  an  individuality  and  so  full  a  mea- 
sure of  susceptibility  as  the  uncle  must  possess,  in  order  to 
be  what  he  is.  His  remarks  on  music,  and  that  it  ought 
to  address  itself  purely  to  the  ear,  are  also  full  of  truth.  It 
is  evident  that  into  this  character  you  have  put  more  of 
your  own  nature  than  into  any  other. 

Of  all  the  leading  characters,  Lothario  stands  out  the 
least  prominently,  but  for  wholly  objective  reasons.  A 
character  like  this  can  never  wholly  appear  in  the  medium 
through  which  the  poet  works.  No  single  act  or  speech 
exhibits  him;  one  must  see  him,  hear  him,  live  with  him. 


SCHILLER   ASD  GOETHE. 


155 


Therefore  it  is  enough,  that  those  who  live  with  him  are 
unanimous  in  their  confidence  in  him  and  high  regard ; 
that  the  women  all  love  him,  who  always  judge  from  the 
total  impression ;  and  that  our  attention  is  directed  to  the 
sources  of  his  culture.  With  this  character  much  more  is 
left  to  the  imagination  of  the  reader  than  with  the  others, 
and  most  properly ;  for  he  is  (esthetic,  he  must  therefore  be 
produced  by  the  reader  himself,  yet  not  arbitrarily,  but  ac- 
cording to  laws  which  you  have  given  with  sufficient  pre- 
cision. Nothing  but  his  approximation  to  the  ideal  is  the 
cause,  that  this  precision  of  features  can  never  turn  into 
sharpness. 

Jarno  remains  true  to  himself  to  the  end,  and  his  choice 
in  regard  to  Lydia  puts  the  crown  upon  his  character. 
How  skilfully  you  dispose  of  your  women  !  Characters 
like  Wilhelm  and  Lothario  can  only  be  happy  through 
union  with  beings  that  harmonize  with  themselves ;  a  per- 
son like  Jarno  can  only  be  so  with  one  in  contrast  with 
himself.  He  must  have  ever  something  to  do  and  to  think 
about,  and  to  discriminate. 

The  good  Countess  does  not  fare  the  best  at  the  final 
poetical  account ;  but  here  also  what  you  have  done  is 
perfectly  consistent  with  Nature.  A  character  like  this 
can  never  be  set  up  upon  itself;  for  it,  there  is  no  develop- 
ment that  could  guarantee  to  it  its  repose  and  happiness  • 
it  remains  always  in  the  power  of  circumstances,  and 
thence  a  kind  of  negative  condition  is  all  that  can  be  ob- 
tained for  it.  That  is,  to  be  sure,  not  very  agreeable  for 
the  beholder,  but  it  is  so,  and  the  artist  in  this  case  only 
gives  utterance  to  the  law  of  Nature.  Speaking  of  the 
Countess,  I  must  remark,  that  her  appearance  in  the  eighth 
Book  does  not  seem  to  me  to  be  sufficiently  accounted  for. 
She  comes  io  the  denouement,  but  not  ovt  of  it. 


156 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


The  Count  sustains  his  character  admirably,  and  this 
also  I  must  praise,  that  for  the  misfortune  of  the  Harper, 
you  make  him  blameable  through  his  so  well-contrived 
arrangements  in  the  house.  With  all  their  love  of  order, 
such  pedants  must  always  create  disorder. 

The  perversity  of  little  Felix  in  drinking  out  of  the  bot- 
tle, which  has  afterwards  so  important  a  result,  belongs 
also  to  the  happiest  ideas  of  the  plot.  There  are  several 
incidents  of  this  kind  in  the  Novel,  which  are  all  fine  in- 
ventions. They  imite  in  so  simple  and  natural  a  manner 
the  indifferent  to  the  important  and  the  reverse,  and  melt 
together  the  necessary  and  the  accidental. 

I  very  much  enjoyed  Werner's  melancholy  transforma- 
tion. A  plodder  like  him  could  be  lifted  aloft  for  awhile 
only  by  youth,  and  by  his  consorting  with  Wilhelm ;  so 
soon  as  these  two  angels  quit  him,  he  falls,  as  is  right  and 
reasonable,  to  his  congenial  element,  and  is  obliged  to  be 
at  last  himself  astonished  at  the  distance  he  has  remained 
behind  his  friend.  This  personage  is  also  on  this  account 
so  salutary  to  the  whole,  because  it  unfolds  and  ennobles 
realism,  to  which  you  bring  back  the  hero  of  the  Novel. 
At  present  he  stands  on  a  fine  middle  ground,  equally  dis- 
tant from  the  fantastical  and  the  prosaic,  and  you  have  at 
once  cured  him  most  fully  of  the  disposition  to  the  first 
and  impressively  warned  him  against  the  latter. 

Herewith  I  send  back  Humboldt's  letter.  Much  of  what 
he  says  of  the  Idyl  is  true,  parts  of  it  he  does  not  seem 
to  have  felt  as  I  feel  it.  The  trifles  which  he  condemns 
lose  themselves  in  the  beautiful  whole  ;  nevertheless,  it 
were  perhaps  well  to  give  some  attention  to  them,  and  his 
reasons  are  not  to  be  rejected.  Two  trochees  in  the  fore- 
most hemi -pentameter  do  make  the  verse  drag  somewhat, 


SCHILLER    AND  GOETHE. 


157 


and  this  holds,  too,  of  the  other  passages.  The  antithesis 
between  for  one  another  and  to  one  another,  is  a  little  too 
marked,  if  one  takes  it  strictly ;  and  one  likes  always  to 
be  strict  with  you. 

Farewell.  I  have  written  a  pretty  long  epistle  :  may 
you  read  as  willingly  as  I  wrote  ! 

SCH. 

CLXXX. 

Jena,  5th  July,  1796. 

Now  that  I  have  the  whole  work  before  my  mind,  I 
cannot  sufficiently  express  how  happily  you  have  chosen 
the  character  of  the  hero,  if  in  such  a  case  there  could  be 
a  choosing.  None  other  were  so  well  fitted  to  be  the 
carrier  of  the  incidents  ;  and  leaving  entirely  out  of  view 
that  only  on  such  a  character  could  the  problem  be  pro- 
posed and  solved,  even  for  the  mere  presentation  of  the 
whole,  no  other  would  have  suited  so  well.  Not  only 
did  the  subject  require  this  particular  character,  the  reader 
also  needed  it. 

His  tendency  to  reflection  makes  the  reader  pause  in  the 
most  rapid  movement  of  the  active,  and  obliges  him  to  look 
ever  forwards  and  backwards,  and  to  meditate  on  all  that 
occurs.  He  gathers  in,  so  to  speak,  the  spirit,  the  sense, 
the  inward  contents  of  everything  that  passes  round  him, 
converts  each  indistinct  feeling  into  an  idea,  a  thought, 
utters  each  particular  in  a  general  formula,  interprets  to  us 
the  significance  of  everything,  and  while  he  thereby  fulfils 
his  own  character,  he  fulfils  at  the  same  time  most  per- 
fectly the  aim  of  the  whole. 

The  rank  and  outward  position  from  which  you  selected 
him  makes  him  especially  well  fitted  for  this.  A  new 
world  is  opened  to  him,  which  makes  a  lively  impression 


15S 


correspondb:xce  between 


on  him,  and  while  he  is  busy  in  assimilating  the  same  to 
himself,  he  leads  us,  too,  into  its  interior,  and  shows  us 
what  there  is  therein  of  reality  for  man.  In  him  resides 
a  pure  and  moral  image  of  humanity ;  by  this  he  tests  each 
outward  appearance  of  the  same,  and  while  on  the  one 
hand  experience  helps  to  give  fixedness  to  his  fluctuating 
ideas,  this  very  idea,  this  inward  feeling,  rectifies  on  the 
other  hand  again  experience.  In  this  way  this  character 
helps  you  wonderfully,  in  all  the  events  and  relations  that 
occur,  to  discover  and  interpret  the  essentially  human. 
His  mind  is,  indeed,  a  true  but  yet  no  mere  passive 
mirror  of  the  world,  and  although  his  fancy  has  an  influ- 
ence on  his  perception,  yet  is  this  latter  only  ideal,  not 
fantastic  ;  poetic,  not  extravagant.  It  has  for  a  foundation 
not  the  caprice  of  the  wayward  imagination,  but  a  beautiful 
*  moral  freedom. 

Beyond  measure,  truly  and  strikingly  does  his  discon- 
tent picture  him,  when  he  gives  to  Teresa  the  history  of 
his  life.  His  worth  lies  in  his  mind,  not  in  what  he  has 
done  ;  in  his  striving,  not  in  his  acts  ;  thence  must  his  life, 
so  soon  as  he  wishes  to  give  account  thereof  to  another, 
appear  to  himself  so  empty.  On  the  other  hand,  a  Teresa, 
and  similar  characters,  can  always  count  their  worth  in 
ready  coin,  always  vouch  it  through  an  outward  object. 
That  you,  however,  give  Teresa  a  sense  and  appreciation 
of  that  higher  nature  is  again  a  beautiful  and  delicate  trait 
of  character.  In  her  clear  soul  there  must  be  capacity  to 
reflect  that  which  she  has  not  in  herself,  whereby  you 
raise  her  at  once  above  those  limited  beings  Avho  cannot 
even  in  idea  pass  beyond  their  barren  selves.  That 
finally,  a  mind  like  Teresa's  believes  in  a  mode  of  viewing 
things  and  of  feeling  so  foreign  to  herself,  that  she  loves 


SCHILLER   A.\D  GOETHE. 


159 


and  respects  the  heart  that  is  capable  of  it,  is  an  admirable 
testimony  in  favor  of  the  objective  reality  of  the  mode 
itself,  which  must  delight  every  reader. 

I  was  also  glad  to  find  in  the  eighth  Book,  that  Wilhelm 
begins  to  feel  himself  more  opposite  to  those  two  imposing 
authorities,  Jarno  and  the  Abbe.  This  is  a  proof  that  he 
has  pretty  well  finished  his  apprenticeship,  and  Jarno  an- 
swers on  this  occasion  perfectly  in  accordance  with  my 
feeling  :  "  You  are  sharp  ;  that  is  well  and  good  :  if  you 
will  only  once  get  right  savage,  'twill  be  still  better."  I 
acknowledge  that  without  this  manifestation  of  self-reli- 
ance, I  should  feel  uncomfortable  at  seeing  our  hero  con- 
nected so  closely  with  this  class,  as  he  comes  to  be  after- 
wards through  the  union  with  Natalia.  What  with  his 
lively  feeling  of  the  advantages  of  nobility,  and  his  honest 
distrust  of  himself  and  his  condition,  which  he  discloses  on 
so  many  occasions,  he  does  not  seem  to  be  fully  qualified 
to  be  able  to  maintain  in  this  relation  a  perfect  freedom  ; 
and  even  now,  when  you  show  him  bolder  and  more  self- 
relying,  one  cannot  rid  oneself  of  a  certain  anxiety  about 
him.  Will  he  ever  be  able  to  Ibrget  the  bourgeois,  and 
must  he  not,  if  his  destiny  is  to  be  completely  fulfilled  ? 
I  fear  he  will  never  entirely  forget  it ;  he  has  meditated 
thereon  too  much  ;  what  he  has  once  seen  so  distinctly 
out  of  himself,  he  will  never  be  able  fully  to  take  into 
himself.  Lothario's  superior  nature,  as  well  as  Natalia's 
two-fold  merit,  of  birth  and  heart,  will  always  keep  him 
in  a  certain  inferiority.  When  at  the  same  time  I  think 
of  him  as  the  brother-in-law  of  tlie  Count,  who  does  not 
temper  the  elevation  of  his  rank  by  anything  aesthetic,  but 
rather  aggravates  it  by  pedantry,  I  cannot  but  feel  some- 
times anxious  for  him. 


160 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


For  the  rest,  it  is  admirable  how,  with  all  becoming 
respect  for  certain  outward  positive  forms,  the  moment 
there  is  to  do  with  anything  purely  human,  you  thrust  back 
birth  and  rank  into  their  utter  nothingness,  and  that,  too, 
as  is  proper,  without  expending  a  word  on  the  matter. 
But  what  I  look  upon  as  an  obvious  beauty,  you  scarcely 
find  generally  approved  of.  It  will  strike  many  as  strange, 
that  a  novel,  not  in  the  least  sans-culottish,  but  which,  on 
the  contrary,  in  several  passages  seems  to  say  a  good 
word  for  aristocracy,  ends  with  three  marriages,  which  are 
all  three  mesalliances.  As  I  do  not  wish  that  in  the 
denouement  aught  should  be  other  than  it  is,  and  yet  do  not 
like  to  see  the  true  spirit  of  the  work  misunderstood 
even  in  trifles  and  casual  circumstances,  I  suggest  to  you, 
whether  it  were  not  well  to  counteract  this  false  judgment 
by  a  few  words  put  into  Lothario's  mouth.  I  say  into 
Lothario's  mouth,  for  he  is  the  aristocratic  character.  He 
will  have  the  most  authority  with  readers  of  his  class  ;  in 
his  case,  too,  the  mesalliance  is  the  most  glaring.  At  the 
same  time  this  would  afford  an  opportunity  which  does 
not  occur  often,  to  exhibit  Lothario's  completed  character. 
I  do  not  mean  that  this  should  take  place  at  the  point 
where  the  reader  has  to  apply  it ;  on  the  contrary,  it  were 
so  much  the  better  if  it  came  from  Lothario  as  the  natural 
utterance  of  his  mind,  independent  of  any  application,  and 
not  as  a  rule  for  a  single  case. 

Nothing  further  to-day.  You  have  now  heard  a  great 
deal  from  me  of  one  kind  or  other,  and  will  hear  still 
more.  May  there  be  something  in  it  which  will  be  ser- 
viceable to  you ! 

A  happy  farewell  to  you. 

SCH. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


161 


CLXXXI. 

Immediately  after  I  received  your  first  letter,  I  began 
to  write  to  you  something  about  it :  now,  in  the  midst  of 
my  utterly  earthly  occupations,  come  suddenly  upon  me 
your  two  other  letters,  truly  as  voices  from  another  world, 
to  which  I  can  do  naught  but  listen.  Go  on  refreshing 
and  encouraging  me.  Through  your  thoughts  and  opinions 
you  put  me  in  a  condition  to  complete  the  eighth  Book  when- 
ever I  shall  take  hold  of  it  again.  I  have  the  means  to 
satisfy  nearly  all  your  wants,  through  which  on  the  very 
points  whereon  you  have  doubts  the  whole  becomes  to  my 
I  mind  more  compact,  true,  and  sightly.  Do  not  tire  of  tell- 
I  ing  me  fully  your  mind,  and  keep  the  eighth  Book  a  week 
longer.  In  the  mean  time  I  will  get  forward  with  what 
you  want  of  Cellini.  I  will  write  to  you  only  summarily 
I  what  I  design  yet  to  do  to  the  eighth  Book,  and  thus  will 
the  last  copy  be  ready  to  go  out  of  our  hands  by  the  begin- 
ning of  August. 

Your  letters  are  at  present  my  sole  recreation,  and  you 
will  be  able  to  feel  how  thankful  I  am  to  you  that  you  at 
once  put  me  at  ease  on  so  many  points.  Farewell,  and 
greet  your  dear  wife. 

Weimar,  5th  Jiilv,  1796. 

G. 

CLXXxm. 

Jkna,  8th  July,  1796. 

As  you  can  let  me  keep  the  eighth  Book  a  week  longer, 
I  will  confine  my  present  remarks  to  this  Book.  When 
the  whole  is  out  of  your  hands  in  the  wide  world,  we  can 
then  occupy  ourselves  more  about  the  form  of  the  whole, 
and  then  you  will  do  me  on  my  side  the  service  to  rectify 
my  judgment. 

I 


162 


CORRESPONDENCE    B  E '  I"  A V  E  E  N 


Two  points  there  are  especially  to  which  I  would  call 
your  attention  before  the  final  closing  of  the  Book. 

This  Novel  resembles  in  several  respects  the  Epopee, 
among  others  in  this,  that  it  has  machinery,  which,  in  a 
certain  sense,  represents  in  it  the  gods,  or  governing  fate. 
The  subject  required  this. 

Meister's  apprenticeship  is  no  mere  blind  effect  of  Na- 
ture ;  it  is  a  kind  of  experiment.  A  concealed,  active, 
higher  understanding,  the  powers  of  the  Tower,  accompa- 
ny him  with  their  watchfulness,  and  without  disturbing 
Nature  in  her  free  movement,  they  observe  and  lead  hioi 
from  a  distance  and  to  an  end,  whereof  he  has  not  and 
should  not  have  a  surmise.  Quiet  and  gentle  as  is  this 
influence  from  without,  it  nevertheless  exists,  and  to  the 
attainment  of  the  poetical  aim  it  was  indispensable.  Ap- 
prenticeship implies  relation  ;  it  requires  its  co-relative 
mastership  ;  and,  indeed,  the  idea  of  the  latter  is  needed 
to  explain  and  furnish  a  basis  to  the  former.  But  this  idea 
of  mastership,  which  is  only  the  work  of  Nature  and  com- 
pleted experience,  cannot  itself  lead  the  Hero  of  the  Novel ; 
it  cannot  and  should  not  stand  before  him  as  his  end  and 
aim,  for  so  soon  as  he  should  have  in  view  the  end,  it 
were  thereby  attained  ;  it  must  therefore  stand  behind  him 
as  guide.  In  this  way  there  is  throughout  the  whole  a 
beautiful  subordination  to  an  aim,  without  the  Hero  himself 
having  an  aim  ;  the  understanding  thus  finds  a  business 
accomplished,  while  the  imagination  fully  maintains  its 
freedom. 

But  that,  with  this  aim,  the  only  one  in  the  whole  Novel 
that  is  really  declared,  and  even  with  this  secret  guiding 
of  Wilhelm  by  Jarno  and  the  Abbe,  you  avoided*  all  heavi- 
ness and  hardness,  and  that  you  had  derived  the  motive 


SCHILLER   AXD  GOETHE. 


163 


for  it  rather  from  a  whim  than  from  a  moral  source,  is  one 
of  the  most  striking  of  those  beauties  that  are  peculiar  to 
yourself!  The  idea  of  a  machinery  is  thereby  suppressed, 
while  at  the  same  time  its  agency  continues,  and  every- 
thing remains,  as  regards  form,  within  the  bounds  of  Na- 
ture ;  only  the  result  is  more  than  mere  Nature  left  to  itself 
could  have  produced. 

With  all  this,  however,  I  still  wish  that  you  had  made  a 
little  more  apparent  to  the  reader  the  important  part  of  the 
machinery  ;  viz.,  its  necessary  bearing  upon  the  internal 
character  of  the  work.  The  reader  should  always  be  able 
to  look  clearly  into  the  economy  of  the  whole,  although, 
from  the  acting  personages  themselves,  this  ought  to 
remain  concealed.  Many  readers,  I  fear,  will  think  they 
see  in  that  secret  influence  merely  a  theatrical  play,  and  an 
artifice  to  add  to  the  intricacy  of  the  plot,  to  excite  sur- 
prise, &c.  The  eighth  Book,  it  is  true,  gives  an  historical 
explanation  of  all  incidents  brought  about  by  the  machine- 
ry, but  it  does  not  give  satisfactorily  enough  the  cesthetic 
explanation  of  the  inward  spirit,  the  poetical  necessity  of 
those  contrivances  :  even  I  myself  only  became  convinced 
of  this  necessity  at  the  second  and  third  reading. 

It  were  then  a  question,  whether  this  fault,  if  it  is  a  fault, 
could  not  still  be  obviated  in  the  eighth  Book.  Moreover, 
it  concerns  only  the  development  of  the  idea  ;  in  the  idea 
itself  there  is  naught  to  wish  changed.  It  is  only, 
therefore,  necessary  to  give  a  little  more  importance  in  the 
eyes  of  the  reader  to  that  v/hich  hitherto  he  treated  too 
frivolously,  and  by  more  distinctly  connecting  with  the 
most  serious  import  of  the  Poem  those  theatrical  incidents, 
which  he  might  look  upon  as  a  mere  play  of  the  imagina- 
tion, justify  them  to  the  Reason,  as  is  done  most  implicitly 


164 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


but  not  explicitly.  The  Abbe  seems  to  me  well  fitted  to  be 
charged  with  this  duty,  and  he  will  thereby  have  an  oppor- 
tunity further  to  recommend  himself.  Perhaps  it  were 
not  superfluous  to  mention  in  the  eighth  Book  the  imme- 
diate occasion  of  Wilhelm's  being  made  an  object  of  the 
Abbe's  pedagogic  plans.  These  plans  would  thereby 
receive  a  more  special  reference,  and  Wilhelm  personally 
would  appear  to  the  circle  to  be  of  more  consequence. 

In  the  eighth  Book  you  have  dropt  various  hints  of 
what  you  wish  understood  by  Apprenticeship  and  by  Mas- 
tership. As  the  purport  of  a  work  of  fiction  is  the  main 
consideration,  especially  with  a  public  like  ours,  and  is 
often  the  only  thing  afterwards  recollected,  it  is  of  import- 
ance that  you  be  here  fully  understood.  The  hints  are  ex- 
cellent, only  they  do  not  seem  to  me  sufficient.  You  wish 
the  reader  himself  to  discover  more  than  you  directly  impart 
to  him.  But  precisely  because  you  do  give  out  something 
will  it  be  thought  that  this  is  all,  and  thus  you  will  have  lim- 
ited your  idea  more  than  if  you  had  left  it  entirely  to  the 
reader  to  find  out. 

If  I  had  to  express  in  so  many  words  the  goal  which 
Wilhelm  has  finally  reached  after  so  many  aberrations,  I 
should  say :  "  He  enters  from  an  empty  and  undefined 
Ideal  into  a  defined  actual  life,  but  without  thereby  forfeit- 
ing the  idealizing  power."  The  two  opposite  paths  that 
lead  away  from  this  happy  condition  are  exhibited  in  the 
Novel,  and  that  in  all  possible  shades  and  degrees.  From 
that  unfortunate  expedition,  v/here  he  wishes  to  construct 
a  play  without  having  thought  of  its  contents,  down  to  the 
moment  when  he  chooses  Teresa  for  his  wife,  he  has,  as 
it  were,  run  through  in  a  one-sided  way  the  whole  circle 
,  of  humanity  :  those  two  extremes  are  the  two  greatest 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


1G5 


contrasts  of  which  a  character  like  his  is  capable.  That 
he  now ,  under  the  beautiful  and  glad  guidance  of  Nature 
(through  Felix),  passes  over  from  the  ideal  to  the  real, 
from  lively  endeavor  to  action  and  a  recognition  of  the 
actual,  without,  however,  losing  what  was  real  in  that  first 
state  of  endeavor,  that  he  learns  to  confine  himself  within 
limits,  but  in  these  limits  themselves  finds  again  the  passage 
to  the  infinite,  &c. ;  this  I  call  the  crisis  of  his  life,  the 
end  of  his  apprenticeship,  and  to  this  all  the  contrivances 
in  the  work  tend  most  perfectly.  The  beautiful,  natural 
relation  to  his  child,  and  the  union  with  so  elevated  a  wo- 
man as  Natalia,  guaranty  this  state  of  spiritual  health,  and 
we  part  from  him  on  a  path  which  tends  to  an  endless 
perfection. 

Now,  the  manner  in  which  you  express  yourself  as  to 
the  idea  to  be  attached  to  Apprenticeship  and  Mastership^ 
seems  to  set  a  narrower  limit  to  both.  Under  the  first  you 
understand  merely  the  error  of  seeking  out  of  oneself  that 
which  the  inward  man  himself  must  yield  ;  under  the 
second,  the  conviction  of  the  inwardness  of  that  search,  of 
the  necessity  of  self-development,  &c.  But  does  this  idea 
entirely  embrace  and  exhaust  the  whole  life  of  Wilhelm  as 
this  lies  before  us  in  the  Novel  1  Is  everything  intelligible 
by  means  of  this  formula  ?  And  is  it  enough  for  his  eman- 
cipation from  the  first  state  that  the  father's  heart  has  dis- 
closed itself,  as  happens  at  the  end  of  the  seventh  Book  ? 
What  I  would  therefore  desire  is  this,  that  the  bearing  of 
all  the  parts  of  the  work  upon  that  philosophical  idea  be 
made  somewhat  more  apparent.  I  might  say,  the  Fable  is 
perfectly  true,  the  moral  of  the  Fable  is  also  perfectly 
true  ;  but  the  relation  of  one  to  the  other  is  not  quite  obvi- 
ous enough. 


166 


CORRESPOXDEXCE  BETVs'EEN 


I  do  not  know  whether  in  these  comments  I  have  been 
able  to  make  myself  perfectly  intelligible :  the  question 
relates  to  the  whole,  and  it  is  therefore  difficult  to  expound 
it  by  particular  references.  A  hint,  however,  is  here  suf- 
ficient. 

Before  you  send  me  the  copy  of  the  Xenia,  have  the 
goodness  to  strike  out  what  you  wish  omitted,  and  to  under- 
score what  you  wish  changed.  I  can  then  the  sooner 
take  my  measures  for  what  is  still  to  be  done.  • 

May  there  be  the  mood  and  the  time  for  the  little  poems 
you  proposed  to  furnish  to  the  Almanac,  and  to  the  poem 
of  Mignon  which  we  already  have  in  joetto !  The  lustre  of 
the  Almanac  depends  entirely  upon  your  contributions.  I 
now  live  and  work  again  in  Criticism,  in  order  to  make 
Meister  quite  clear  to  me,  and  cannot  do  much  more  for 
the  Almanac.  Then  comes  the  confinement  of  my  wife, 
which  will  not  be  favorable  to  the  poetical  mood.  She 
sends  her  hearty  regards  to  you.  Farewell.  On  Sunday 
evening  I  hope  to  write  to  you  again. 

SCH. 

Will  you  have  the  goodness  to  get  for  me  out  of  the 
library  at  Weimar  the  fifth  volume  of  the  large  Muratori 
Collection  1 

CLXXXIV. 

At  the  same  time  that  I  note  on  a  separate  sheet,  the 
particular  passages  which  I  propose  to  alter  and  fill  up 
according  to  your  suggestions,  I  have  to  give  you  my 
warmest  thanks  for  compelling  me,  by  the  admonitions 
contained  in  your  letter  of  to-day,  to  direct  my  attention  to 
the  adequate  completion  of  the  whole.  I  beg  you  not  to 
desist  from,  I  may  say,  driving  me  out  of  my  own  limits. 


SCHILLER   AXD  GOETHE. 


167 


The  fault  which  you  so  justly  remark  upon,  has  its  source 
in  the  depths  of  my  nature,  in  a  certain  feeling  through 
which  I  find  a  satisfaction  in  veiling  from  the  world's  eyes 
my  existence,  my  actions,  my  writings.  Thus  I  like  to 
travel  incognito,  to  choose  the  worse  instead  of  the  better 
apparel,  and  in  conversation  with  strangers  or  half-ac- 
quaintances to  prefer  a  subject  of  little  importance  or  at  any 
rate  the  less  important  expression,  to  deport  myself  with 
more  levity  than  is  natural  to  me,  and  thus  to  place  myself, 
as  it  were,  between  myself  and  the  manifestation  of  my- 
self. You  know  very  well,  partly  how  it  is,  and  partly 
Avhence  it  is. 

After  this  general  confession  I  will  pass  very  gladly  to 
the  particular  one,  that,  but  for  your  instigation,  I  should, 
against  both  knowledge  and  conscience,  have  abandoned 
myself  to  this  peculiarity  in  this  Novel,  which,  consider- 
ing the  very  great  expenditure  that  has  been  made  on  it, 
would  have  been  unpardonable,  inasmuch  as  all  that  can 
be  required  is  at  once  so  easy  to  discern,  and  so  conve- 
nient to  supply. 

Thus,  to  announce  in  direct  terms  the  early  direction  of 
the  Abbe's  attention  upon  Wilhelm,  would  throw  a  quite 
natural  and  spiritual  light  upon  the  whole,  and  yet  I  neg- 
lected to  do  it ;  scarcely  even  could  I  make  up  my  mind 
to  tell  through  Werner,  something  favorable  of  his  outward 
condition. 

I  had  cut  short  in  the  seventh  Book  the  Apprentice's  in- 
denture, in  which,  thus  far,  one  reads  only  a  few  maxims 
about  Art.  The  second  half  was  to  contain  certain  im- 
portant sentences  relating  to  Life,  and  I  had  the  fairest 
opportunity,  through  a  verbal  commentary  of  the  Abbe,  to 
explain  and  vindicate  the  incidents  generally,  but  particu- 


168 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


larly  those  brought  about  by  the  Powers  of  the  Tower, 
and  thus  to  save  that  machinery  from  the  suspicion  of 
being  nothing  but  a  cold  and  meaningless  resource  of  the 
Novel-writer,  and  to  give  it  an  aesthetic  value,  or,  more 
properly,  to  make  obvious  its  aesthetic  value.  You  see 
that  I  concur  entirely  with  your  views. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  apparent  results,  those  de- 
clared by  me,  are  not  at  all  in  proportion  to  the  contents  of 
the  work,  and  I  seem  to  myself  like  one  who,  after  having 
set  down  one  over  the  other  a  number  of  large  figures, 
wantonly  makes  mistakes  in  the  addition,  in  order,  from 
some  unaccountable  whim,  to  diminish  the  total  sum. 

I  owe  you  for  this,  as  for  so  much  else,  the  heartiest 
thanks,  that  you  have  called  my  attention  in  so  decided  a 
way,  and  while  it  is  still  not  too  late,  to  this  perverse 
manner  of  execution,  and  I  shall  certainly,  in  so  far  as  I 
can,  comply  with  your  just  wishes.  I  have  only  to  dis- 
tribute the  contents  of  your  letter  at  the  appropriate 
places,  and  that  alone  would  set  the  matter  right.  And 
should  it  still  happen  (for  human  perversity  is  a  most  in- 
surmountable obstacle)  that,  after  all,  I  be  unable  to  get 
delivered  of  the  important  sentences,  I  beseech  you,  with 
some  bold  pencil  strokes,  to  add  with  your  own  hand  that 
which  I,  from  the  strangest  tyranny  of  nature,  am  incapa- 
ble of  uttering.  Go  on  during  this  week  reminding  and 
animating  me  ;  I  will  in  the  meanwhile  provide  for  Cellini, 
and  if  possible  for  the  Almanac. 

Weimar,  9th  July,  1796. 

G. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


169 


CLXXXVI. 

I  SEND  back  to  you  the  Xenia  with  my  criticisms  :  the 
serious  and  well-meaning  ones  are  now  in  such  force,  that 
one  begrudges  the  ragamuffins  Avho  are  assailed,  that  they 
are  mentioned  in  such  good  company. 

Touching  the  portrait,*  I  do  not  see  how  we  shall 
manage  it.  There  is  no  one  here  who  could  copy  it  for 
this  purpose.  To  send  the  original  to  Berlin  would  be 
unsafe ;  moreover,  Bolt  is,  I  think,  though  an  agreeable, 
by  no  means  a  thorough  artist.  How  would  it  do  to  post- 
pone your  friendly  purpose  until  Meyer's  return  ?  From 
him  we  might  expect  something  in  every  respect  good. 

Greet  your  dear  wife.  Could  you  not,  in  case  of  an 
increase  of  your  family,  send  Charles  over  here  ?  Augus- 
tus would  give  him  a  hearty  welcome,  and  he  would  be 
very  happy  in  the  company  of  the  many  children  that  as- 
semble in  my  house  and  garden.  Farewell. 

Weimar,  9lh  July,  179G. 

G. 

CLXXXVIII. 

Monday  Afternoon,  3  o'clock. 

The  confinement  of  my  wife  took  place  two  hours  ago, 
in  a  shorter  time  than  was  expected,  and  with  Starke's 
assistance,  easily  and  happily.  My  wishes  are  in  every 
respect  fulfilled,  for  it  is  a  boy,  apparently  lively  and 
strong.  You  can  conceive  what  a  load  is  taken  from  my 
heart,  especially  as  I  had  cause  to  fear  the  spasms  might 
make  the  birth  premature. 

I  can  now,  therefore,  begin  to  count  my  little  family ; 


*  An  engraving  of  his  portrait  which  Schiller  wished  to  have 
lor  the  Almanac. 

8 


170 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


it  is  a  peculiar  sensation,  and  the  step  from  one  to  two  is 
much  greater  than  I  thought. 

Farewell.  My  wife  greets  you ;  she  is,  bating  weak- 
ness, doing  very  well. 

SCH. 

cxc 

I  CAME  over  rapidly  yesterday  in  Counsellor  Loder's 
company.  The  copying  of  the  Novel  goes  on  briskly. 
This  morning  early  I  excogitated  a  little  treatise,  by  which 
I  expect  to  be  able  to  give  to  you  and  myself  a  clear 
account  of  my  method  of  observing  nature,  out  of  which 
hereafter  can  be  made  an  Introduction  to  this  class  of  my 
works.  Herewith  I  send  you  one  of  Nature's  products, 
which  at  this  season  must  be  consumed  quickly.  I  hope 
it  may  taste  well  and  agree  with  you. 

Weimar,  20th  Julv,  1796. 

G. 

CXCI. 

Only  a  few  lines  by  way  of  greeting,  and  to  give  you 
our  best  thanks  for  the  fish  which  we  relished  very  much, 
namely,  my  mother-in-law,  and  myself,  and  the  Schlegels, 
whom  we  invited  to  partake  of  it. 

I  am  so  exhausted  and  fatigued,  by  a  despatch  to  Cotta, 
and  a  variety  of  trifling  matters,  that  I  cannot  write  more 
to-day.  I  hope  the  events  in  Frankfort  have  not  fallen, 
and  will  not  fall  hard  on  you  and  your  mother.  If  you 
hear  of  anything  concerning  these  occurrences,  which 
does  not  appear  in  the  newspapers,  let  me  have  informa- 
tion of  it.  Farewell. 

10  o'clock  in  the  evening. 

ScH. 

It  was  reported  here  to-day  that  the  Coadjutor  was  taken 
prisoner. 


-SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


171 


CXCIV. 

Jena,  25th  July,  1796. 

These  last  few  days  I  have  not  felt  well  enough  to 
write  to  you  of  aught  that  interests  us.  I  refrain  also 
to-day,  for  my  head  is  in  a  sad  state,  from  a  sleepless 
night. 

Political  matters,  which  I  have  always  from  choi(^e 
avoided,  are  coming  gradually  closer  and  closer  home  to 
me. 

*  ***** 

I  lately  heard  that  Stolberg,  and  others  who  happened 
to  be  with  him,  solemnly  burnt  Wilhelm  Meister  as  far  as 
the  sixth  Book,  which  he  saved  and  had  bound  by  itself. 
He  seriously  thinks  it  a  defence  of  the  Moravians,  and 
has  been  much  edified  by  it. 

Baggesen  has  spit  an  epigram  at  my  Almanac,  in  which 
it  is  said  the  Epigrams  are  roughly  dealt  ^ith.  The  point  of 
it  is,  that  "  after  first  exhibiting  to  the  reader  a  series  of 
ideal  figures,  a  Venetian  pot-de-chambre  is  emptied  upon 
him."  The  judgment  at  least  looks  very  like  a  drenched 
dog.  I  commend  these  two  pieces  of  news  to  your  best 
service.  Will  you  have  the  goodness  to  send  me  what 
Xenia  you  have  left,  as  the  press  is  urgent  for  them  ? 

My  last  Almanac  is  prohibited  in  Vienna ;  we  have, 
therefore,  the  less  cause  to  forbear  in  the  next  one. 

Farewell.  The  eighth  Book  newly  copied  will  set  me 
in  motion  again.  As  to  matters  of  Natural  History,  orally, 
Herder  has  sent  various  things  for  the  Almanac,  amoÄg 
them  one  on  which  is  written — 

facit  indignatio  versum, 
Qualemcunque  potest. 

SCH. 


I 


172 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


cxcv. 

Herewith  I  send  a  good  letter  from  Meyer  ;  it  is  the 
second  I  have  received  from  Florence,  where  he  is  doing 
well ;  I  only  wish  that  he  may  establish  himself  there  for 
a  good  long  period,  in  the  enjoyment  of  tranquillity. 

The  copying  of  the  Novel  gets  forward,  and  I  still  find 
a  good  deal  to  do  at  it ;  I  hope  to  send  it  to  you  on  the  3d, 
or  the  6th  of  August ;  on  the  1 0th  I  shall  visit  you,  and 
then  I  hope  we  shall  quickly  get  to  the  end  of  it. 

Probably,  too,  by  that  time  the  political  troubles  will  be 
somewhat  less  obscure.  Thuringia  and  Saxony  have,  it 
appears,  a  respite  to  bethink  them,  and  even  that  is  much. 

Kant's  treatise  on  the  elevated  method  of  pursuing  phi- 
losophy has  given  me  much  pleasure.  It  contributes  de- 
cidedly towards  separating  things  which  do  not  belong 
together. 

The  Auto  da  Fe  of  the  Stol bergs  and  the  Epigrams  of 
Baggesen,  will  bring  evil  upon  them.  They  have  only 
credit  because  they  have  been  tolerated,  and  it  will  take 
very  little  to  thrust  them  back  into  the  circle  to  which  they 
belong.  Farewell.  I  hope  your  wife  will  do  well  after 
the  change,  and  that  the  baby  may  thrive  on  his  new 
nourishment.  I  will  in  the  meanwhile  be  as  diligent  as 
possible,  in  order  to  be  able  to  spend  some  time  with  you 
in  quiet,  and  to  discuss  with  you  various  new  under- 
takings. 

Weimar,  26ih  July,  1796. 

G. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


173 


cel. 

You  will  have,  my  dear  friend,  to  exercise  some  pa- 
tience towards  me  at  this  period  ;  for  now  that  the  time  is 
come  in  which  I  was  to  set  out  on  my  journey,*  I  feel 
very  keenly  what  I  lose  by  the  deferment  of  so  cherished 
a  hope,  which  at  my  age  is  as  good  as  crushed.  What  of 
culture  I  still  need,  I  could  only  obtain  from  that  source  ; 
what  is  in  me  I  could  only  by  that  means  use  and  apply, 
and  I  was  certain  of  bringing  back  into  our  narrow  circle, 
a  great  treasure,  through  which  hereafter  we  should  have 
had  a  double  enjoyment  of  the  time  I  should  have  spent 
away  from  you.  The  observations  of  our  excellent  Meyer 
pain  me  ;  he  himself  has  but  the  half  enjoyment  from 
them,  when  I  cannot  share  them  ;  and  that  I  now  see 
before  me  no  undertaking  which  might  cheer  and  buoy  me 
up,  also  disheartens  me.  A  long  journey  and  many  objects 
pressing  upon  me  from  all  sides  were  more  necessary  to 
me  than  ever ;  in  the  meanwhile,  take  it  as  I  will,  it  were 
madness  to  set  out  at  present,  and  so  I  must  reconcile  my- 
self to  it  as  I  best  can. 

I  hope  to  visit  you  soon,  and  am  glad  that  you  have 
devised  a  means  by  which  we  shall  not  lose  our  sport  with 
the  Xenia.  I  think  it  is  the  right  one,  and  the  Almanac 
retains  its  ancient  form  and  will  be  distinguished  among 
all  others  by  an  epilogue  and  prologue  :  it  will  not  be  con- 
fused through  the  mixture  of  heterogeneous  kinds  of 
poetry,  and  will  be  nevertheless  as  multifarious  as  possible. 
Who  knows  what  we  may  strike  out  in  order  the  next 
year  to  interest  us  in  a  similar  manner  1    Of  other  matters 

*  A  journey  to  Italy,  abandoned  in  consequence  of  the  impedi- 
ments caused  by  the  war. 


174 


CORRESPONDEXCi:  BETWEEN 


I  will  say  nothing  to-day.  Farewell :  greet  your  dear 
wife  for  me.  I  hope  to  find  you  and  yours  well,  and  in 
good  spirits. 

Weimar,  2d  August,  1796. 

ecu. 

Jena,  5th  August,  1796. 

Matthisson  passed  through  here  to-day.  He  comes 
directly  from  Italy,  through  Trieste  and  Vienna.  Accord- 
ing to  his  assurances,  the  journey  to  Italy  is  not  so  unsafe. 
He  thinks  there  would  be  no  difficulties  by  the  route  from 
Trieste  to  Rome,  through  Ancona.  He  himself  had  no 
unpleasant  occurrences  on  the  journey,  and  he  was  only 
detained  at  Nuremberg,  for  want  of  horses.  If,  therefore, 
within  three  or  four  weeks  it  were  decided  that  you  have 
nothing  to  fear  for  house  and  hearth,  the  journey  might 
still  be  undertaken.  Hirt,  also,  has  left  Italy ;  Matthis- 
son parted  from  him  in  Vienna,  but  he  says  Hirt  intends 
nevertheless  to  come  this  way.  He  had  nothing  more  to 
tell  of  Meyer  than  what  we  already  know,  nor  had  he 
much  that  is  new  to  say  of  any  of  the  late  events. 

Of  other  matters,  the  next  time.  I  am  not  alone.  May 
this  letter  find  you  cheerful  and  becalmed  !  All  are  well 
with  me,  and  my  wife  sends  you  hearty  greetings. 

ScH. 

CCIIi. 

The  ci-devant  Xenia  look  very  well  in  their  new  ar- 
rangement. Now,  if  you  could  but  find  the  few  titles  that 
are  Avanting :  me,  the  spirit  has  not  been  willing  to  move 
lately.  The  next  week  I  shall  be  with  you,  and  I  hope 
our  meeting  will  not  be  unfruitful ;  we  shall  be  able  to 


SCHILLER   AiND  GOETHE. 


175 


complete  some  tilings,  and  to  project  others.  In  Natural 
History,  I  have  interesting  matters  to  tell  you  of. 

Within  these  few  days  I  have  discovered  the  most 
beautiful  phenomenon  that  I  know  in  organic  nature  (and 
that  is  saying  much),  and  send  you  immediately  the  de- 
scription thereof.  I  am  ignorant  whether  or  not  it  is 
known  ;  if  it  is,  the  naturalists  deserve  blame  for  not  pro- 
claiming in  all  highways  so  important  a  phenomenon,  in- 
stead of  vexing  the  seekers  of  knowledge  with  so  many 
tedious  details.  I  have  been  able  to  make  the  observation 
only  on  one  species,  probably  however  it  is  the  same  with 
all,  which  will  be  decided  before  the  Autumn  is  over.  As 
the  change  takes  place  so  rapidly,  and  on  account  of  the 
smallness  of  the  space  the  movement  cannot  be  seen,  it  is 
like  a  fairy  tale  when  one  watches  the  little  creature  ;  for 
it  is  something  to  grow  in  twelve  minutes  half  an  inch  in 
length,  and  proportionally  in  breadth,  and  thus  to  increase, 
as  it  were,  cubically,  and  the  four  wings  all  at  once !  I 
will  see  if  it  is  not  possible  to  let  you  behold  this  pheno- 
menon with  your  own  eyes. 

Farewell.  Between  ourselves  I  hope  to  be  able  to 
bring  you  with  me  peace  and  quiet  for  Thuringia  and 
Upper  Saxony. 

Weimau,  6th  August,  1796. 

G. 

Postscript. — Of  course  you  are  not  to  figure  to  yourself 
this  growth  as  if  the  solid  parts  of  the  wings  increased  so 
much  in  so  short  a  time ;  but  I  infer  that  the  wings  are 
already  perfectly  formed  out  of  the  most  delicate  tela 
cellulosa,  which,  by  the  action  of  some  elastic  fluid,  be  it 
air  or  vapor,  becomes  exuded  with  such  quickness.  I 
am  satisfied  that  something  similar  might  be  detected  in 
the  development  of  flowers. 


176 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


ccv. 

My  bundle  was  ready ;  I  hoped  again  to  spend  some 
time  with  you.  Unhappily  a  variety  of  circumstances 
detain  me,  and  I  don't  know  when  I  shall  see  you. 

I  should  like  to  be  more  distinctly  informed  what  you 
wish  to  know  about  the  Herculanean  discoveries,  in  order 
to  be  able  to  meet  your  wishes.  I  send  you  herewith 
Volckmann  ;  there  is,  also,  in  the  Buettnerian  Library  a 
work  entitled,  Description  of  Heracleia,  from  the  Italian 
of  Don  Marcello  Venuti :  Frankfort  and  Leipsig,  1749. 

The  Novel  again  gives  signs  of  life.  After  my  fashion, 
I  have  found  a  body  to  your  ideas  ;  I  know  not  whether 
you  will  recognize  those  spiritual  beings  in  their  earthly 
form.  I  have  almost  a  mind  to  send  the  work  to  the  press 
without  showing  it  to  you  again.  That  it  can  never  satis- 
fy your  demands,  is  owing  to  the  difference  in  our  na- 
tures ;  and  even  that  will  without  fail  give  occasion  to 
many  beautiful  comments  when  you  shall  once  pronounce 
upon  the  whole. 

From  time  to  time  let  me  hear  something  of  the  Alma- 
nac. Here  is  a  short  contribution ;  if  you  can  use  it,  I 
have  no  objection  to  my  name  being  put  at  the  end  of  it. 
What  has  put  me  in  this  mood,  is  an  arrogant  expression 
of  Mr.  Richter,  in  a  letter  to  Knebel. 

Don't  fail  to  let  me  know  what  Humboldt  writes. 

In  a  few  days  Counsellor  of  Legation,  Mattel,  will  call 
to  see  you  ;  give  him  a  friendly  reception ;  he  was  tutor 
to  Count  Forstenburg,  the  natural  son  of  the  Duke  of 
Brunswick,  and  also  attached  to  his  mother,  Madame  de 
Brankoni,  and  with  both  he  has  seen  a  good  deal  of  the 
world.  Farewell. 

Weimar,  10th  August,  179G. 

G. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


177 


ccvi. 

I  HAVE  just  received  your  letter,  and  will  forthwith  send 
off  the  manuscript  you  ask  for.  My  best  thanks  for 
Volckmann  and  the  other  notices.  The  Chinese  shall  go 
warm  to  the  press  ;  that  is  the  true  way  to  treat  such  folk. 

I  am  much  disappointed  that  you  cannot  come  imme- 
diately. I  should  have  liked  so  well  just  now  to  light  my 
little  lamp  by  you.  In  regard  to  the  Novel,  you  are  right 
to  reject  others'  views  that  do  not  assimilate  with  your 
nature.  Here  all  is  of  one  piece  ;  and  even  were  there  a 
chasm  (which  is  by  no  means  certain),  it  is  better  that  it 
remain,  as  from  you,  than  that  it  be  filled  up  in  a  manner 
that  is  foreign  to  you.    But,  of  this,  more  hereafter. 

On  Friday  I  shall  send  you  sheets  of  the  Almanac. 
Farewell. 

SCH. 

CCVII. 

I  GOT  to-day  so  deeply  engaged  in  a  Poem,  that  I  for- 
got it  was  post-day.  I  have  this  moment  been  reminded 
thereof  by  my  wife,  who  sends  you  some  biscuit,  and  I 
have  only  time  for  a  few  words. 

Here  are  proofs  of  the  better  and  inferior  copies  of  the 
first  sheets  of  the  Almanac.  The  fourth  is  now  in  the  press, 
and  it  is  probable  that  we  shall  be  able  to  get  it  ready  in  the 
first  week  of  September.  It  will  be  amazingly  rich,  and 
altogether  different  from  the  one  of  last  year.  If  I  set  off 
your  Idyl  against  the  Epigrams  in  that  of  the  last  year, 
the  one  of  this  will  bear  the  palm.  With  my  contribu- 
tions therein,  I  am  much  better  satisfied  than  I  am  with 
those  of  last  year.  I  feel  in  an  astonishing  degree  the 
change  wrought  in  me  by  close  relations  with  you ;  and, 

8* 


178 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


although  the  quality  and  the  ability  must  remain  the  same, 
nevertheless  a  great  purification  has  taken  place  within 
me.  Some  things  which  I  have  just  now  in  hand  call 
forth  this  remark. 

I  have  not  yet  seen  Mr.  Mattel ;  whenever  he  presents 
himself  he  shall  be  welcome.  My  brother-in-law,  Coun- 
sellor V.  Wolzogen,  with  his  wife,  is  at  present  here. 
For  several  years  he  has  occupied  himself  with  Architec- 
ture, and,  as  he  does  not  want  talent,  and  has  moreover 
travelled,  you  will  not  find  him  empty. 

Farewell,  and  don't  stay  away  too  long.  I  just  now 
wish  very  much  to  have  the  eighth  Book  again  ;  can  I  not 
get  it  soon  ? 

SCH. 

CCVIII. 

Your  kind  letter,  accompanied  by  the  first  sheets  of  the 
Almanac  and  the  good  biscuit,  was  very  acceptable  to 
me  ;  it  found  me  in  the  midst  of  all  kind  of  work.  The 
Almanac  makes  really  a  brilliant  figure,  and  the  whole 
cannot  fail  to  be  rich  and  manifold.  As  you  are  having 
several  pages  reprinted,  could  you  not  include  the  Icy 
Way  1  As  it  now  stands,  it  promises  to  be  a  whole,  a 
promise  which  is  not  fulfilled,  and  the  two  distichs  at  the 
end  make  the  idea  still  more  wavering.  I  send  you  here- 
with how  I  should  like  them  printed.       *       *  # 

What  say  you  to  the  inclosed  marvellous  story  ?  It  is 
taken  from  the  Florence  paper ;  suppose  you  have  it  co- 
pied, and  show  it  to  some  of  your  friends.  A  remarkable 
ordinance  has  at  the  same  time  been  issued  from  the 
Quirinal,  for  the  protection  of  the  French  commissaries 
who  are  expected.    Therein  it  is  declared,  that  instant 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


179 


and  most  severe  punishment,  without  the  forms  of  trial, 
will  be  inflicted  on  whoever  shall  in  the  slightest  manner 
insult  them,  or  shall  stir  up  any  excitement  or  movement, 
no  matter  what  may  take  place ;  referring  apparently  to 
the  removal  of  the  works  of  Art. 

Meyer  has  written,  and  is  in  good  spirits  ;  he  has  alrea- 
dy begun  to  copy  the  Madonna  della  Seggiola,  and  will 
probably  afterwards  undertake  part  of  a  fine  picture  by 
Michael  Angelo :  he  still  hopes  to  see  me  soon. 

Next  week  I  shall  be  able  to  say  more  of  our  politics. 
The  Saxon  contingent  remains  in  Voightland,  and  the 
other  troops  are  so  distributed  that  the  Cordon  has  a  shape  ; 
notwithstanding  which,  however,  the  best  that  is  to  be 
hoped  will  not  depend  on  force  and  power,  but  on  higher 
relations  and  brighter  constellations. 

Greet  all  who  are  around  you  ;  I  rejoice  in  the  pros- 
pect of  soon  seeing  you  again,  as  from  our  reciprocal 
influence  I  hope  for  results  which  we  now  cannot  at  all 
foresee.  Farewell. 

Weimar,  13th  Aug.,  1796. 

G. 

CCIX. 

At  last  I  have  letters  from  Swabia,  which  indeed  do 
not  give  me  much  information,  but  on  the  whole  relieve 
me.  I  send  you  Cotta's  letters.  My  family  has  suffered 
little  from  the  troubles  of  war,  but  so  much  the  more  from 
the  illness  of  my  father,  who  languishes  on  a  painful  sick 
bed  with  the  prospect  of  a  slow  death.  My  youngest 
sister,  of  whom  1  told  you  last  March,  died  in  April,  and 
my  second  escaped  death  with  difficulty. 

As  just  now  I  can  only  send  letters  to  Swabia,  through 


180 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


Frankfort,  and  the  present  order  to  Cotta  is  very  important 
to  me,  I  beg  you  to  envelope  the  enclosed  to  your  mother 
in  Frankfort,  with  a  request  that  it  be  immediately  de- 
spatched to  Stuttgart. 

At  the  same  time  have  the  goodness  to  let  me  know  to 
whom  I  am  to  apply  in  Weimar  for  the  cover  for  the  Al- 
manac about  which  Cotta  writes. 

More  by  the  carrier  to-morrow ;  to-day  my  hands  are 
full  of  work. 

Farewell. 

I  have  just  learnt  that  the  Post  here  takes  letters  for 
Stuttgart  through  Frankfort;  I  therefore  don't  need  to 
trouble  you. 

Jena,  15lh  August,  1796. 

SCH. 

CCXI. 

Although  we  are  more  than  ever  dependent  on  the 
moment,  I  yet  hope  that  nothing  will  prevent  me  from 
being  with  you  to-morrow  evening.  The  tahulas  votivas 
I  will  bring  back  with  me.  Your  distichs  are  extraordi- 
narily fine,  and  they  will  certainly  have  an  excellent 
effect.  If  it  is  possible  for  the  Germans  to  understand 
that  a  man  may  be  a  thorough  good  fellow  without  being  a 
Philister*  or  a  simpleton,  your  "  sayings"  will  bring  about 
that  good,  inasmuch  as  the  great  relations  of  human  na- 
ture are  set  forth  with  so  much  nobleness,  freedom  and 
boldness. 

*  Philister  is  a  term  applied  derisively  by  the  German  students 
to  trades-people  and  citizens.  Thence  it  has  got  to  be  used  generally 
to  signify  a  prosaic  vulgar-ininded  person. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


181 


Far  am  I  from  condemning  the  insertion  in  the  Alma- 
nac of  certain  articles  ;  for  in  it  one  looks  for  sociable 
variety,  alternations  of  tone  and  of  manner  ;  one  wishes 
to  have  at  the  same  time  bulk  and  multiplicity  ;  good  taste 
delights  in  discrimination  and  bad  has  an  opportunity  of 
strengthening  itself,  inasmuch  as  it  is  made  game  of. 

We'll  talk  this  all  over.  I  hope  that  we  shall  this  time 
again  make  a  good  stride  forward  together.  As  I  have 
got  rid  of  the  Novel,  my  mind  is  already  full  of  a  thou- 
sand other  things.  Farewell. 

W^EiMAR,  I7th  Aug.,  1796. 

G. 

CCXXII.* 

On  the  whole,  I  find  but  one  impression  produced  by 
the  Almanac.  Every  one  finds  himself  struck  by  the 
phenomenon ;  and  every  one  gathers  himself  up  to  speak 
of  it  with  seeming  liberality,  and  with  more  or  less  con- 
strained satisfaction ;  and  now  mark  whether  that  will  not 
be  mostly  the  case. 

My  best  thanks  for  the  singular  information,  that  the 
Prophetf  is  in  Jena.  I  shall  endeavor  to  keep  out  of  his 
way,  and  am  very  curious  as  to  what  you  will  say  of  him. 
Blumenbach  has  been  with  me  also ;  he  has  with  him  a 
very  interesting  mummy's  head. 

If  the  meeting  takes  place  between  the  Prophet  and 
Paulus,  the  latter  will  probably  get  the  worst  of  it,  and 
will  moreover  have  himself  to  thank  that  he  has  been 

*  The  intervening  letters,  from  the  211th  to  this  one,  relate  almost 
entirely  to  the  printing,  publishing  and  distributing  of  the  Alma- 
nac. 

t  Lavater. 


182 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


insulted.  The  Prophet  makes  nothing  of  ingratiating 
himself  even  by  the  basest  flattery,  in  order  afterwards  to 
be  able  the  more  securely  to  drive  in  his  arrogant  claws. 

Do  tell  me  something  about  the  history  of  the  little 
beauty. 

A  package  of  Cellini,  about  twelve  sheets  of  manu- 
script, will  come  soon ;  then  there  will  remain  two  divi- 
sions which  I  shall  take  in  hand  one  after  the  other,  as  I 
feel  utterly  unfit  to  do  anything  else.  The  two  poor  last 
songs  will  have  to  tarry  yet  a  while  in  Limbo.  Here  in 
Weimar,  there  is  a  species  of  the  most  horrible  prose,  of 

which  otherwise  one  would  have  no  idea. 

******** 

Yesterday  my  Friday-Society  began  again  :  I  will, 
however,  only  have  it  every  fortnight,  and  give  out  invita- 
tions. 

Farewell,  and  greet  everybody. 

Wkimar,  15th  Oct.,  1796. 

G. 

CCXXIII. 

Jena,  16th  Oct.,  1796. 
******  '-H  * 

You  must  read  the  new  piece  from  the  Journal,  Ger- 
many. The  insect  has  again  not  been  able  to  abstain 
from  stinging.  Really  we  ought  to  hunt  it  to  death,  else 
we  shall  have  no  peace  for  it.  He  has  aimed  his  malice 
at  Cellini,  and  to  vex  you  he  has  praised,  and  partly  ex- 
tracted, those  passages  which  you  have  omitted.  Of  the 
essay  of  Stael  he  speaks  with  great  contempt. 

I  gave  you  the  day  before  yesterday  an  unnecessary 
alarm  about  Lavater.    It  was  his  brother  who  was  here. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


183 


Reichardt  also  is,  I  hear,  in  Leipsig  ;  Niethammer  and 
Paulus  did  not,  however,  see  him.  Schlegel  is  still  in 
Leipsig,  where  probably  the  two  hearts  will  discharge 
themselves  towards  each  other. 

Farewell. 

SCH. 

p.  S.  I  have  just  received  a  very  handsome  letter  from 
Körner  about  the  Almanac.  You  shall  have  it  to-mor- 
row. 

CCXXIV. 

I  SEND  you  Körner's  letter,  which  is  a  very  comforting 
sound  amidst  the  unmeaningness  and  flatness  of  the  com- 
mon judgment.  Send  it  back  to  me  as  soon  as  you  have 
read  it. 

The  Humboldts  wrote  lately  that  they  set  off  from  Ber- 
I  lin  by  the  end  of  this  week,  will  stop  on  the  way  about 
ten  days,  and  arrive  here  about  the  first  of  November. 

Of  the  Xenia  I  have  heard  nothing  further.  Schlegel, 
who  has  returned,  was  too  short  a  time  in  Leipsig,  as  he 
made  an  excursion  to  Dessau,  to  be  able  to  learn  much. 
On  his  return  from  Dessau,  he  says  they  had  already 
made  much  stir  in  Leipsig. 

I  hear  that  among  others  the  Duchess  in  W.  is  sup- 
posed to  be  the  "  elegant  Maiden." 

The  Xenion,  "  Wieland  !  How  rich  is  thy  genius,  <fec.," 
some  take  for  a  satire  on  Wieland  and  the  new  edition ! 
I  &c. 

Farewell.    I  am  interrupted. 

18lh  Oct.,  1796. 

ScH. 


184 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


ccxxv. 

Many  thanks  for  the  letter  of  Körner  which  you  sent 
me.  A  feeling  of  such  thorough  friendliness,  and  yet 
growing  out  of  the  aesthetic  interest,  is  a  rare  phenomenon. 
I  will  retain  the  letter  a  few  days  longer,  to  take  the  op- 
portunity of  examining  several  poems  which  I  have  not 
yet  read.  Give  your  friend  from  me  cordial  greetings 
and  thanks  ;  tell  him  something  of  my  new  poem,  and 
assure  him  I  rejoice  in  the  prospect  of  seeing  it  some  day 
in  his  hands. 

We  must  let  the  dog  of  Gibichenstein  bark  for  a  while, 
until  we  get  a  good  chance  to  strike  him.  In  general  all 
opposition-men,  who  lay  themselves  out  to  deny,  and  like 
to  detract  somewhat  from  everything,  must  be  treated  like 
dogs  that  would  stop  your  way ;  one  must  constantly  walk 
quietly  up  and  down  before  their  eyes. 

I  fear  there  is  something  else  behind  his  praise  of  the 
omitted  passages  of  Cellini.  As  he  has  the  original,  I 
fear  lest  he  translate  the  wanting  passages,  and  put  forth  a 
pirated  edition  of  the  whole,  for  he  is  capable  of  anything. 
I  will,  therefore,  hold  back  the  two  other  parts,  which  at 
any  rate  belong  together,  in  the  meantime  fill  out  my  manu- 
script, and  announce  a  complete  edition ;  for  there  is  an 
active  inquiry  for  it,  and  people  are  already  getting  impa- 
tient of  the  disjointed  perusal  in  the  Journal. 

When  you  write  to  Boie,  ask  him  if  he  will  let  me  keep 
the  English  translation  which  I  have  from  him  through 
Eschenburg.  I  will  willingly  pay  what  it  cost,  and  pro- 
mise besides  a  copy  of  my  translation,  when  it  is  published 
entire. 

I  am  delighted  to  hear  of  Humboldt's  visit.  As  soon 
as  he  arrives,  I  will  pay  you  a  visit,  if  only  for  a  day. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


185 


Farewell ;  greet  everybody  for  me,  and  tell  me  soon 
that  you  have  begun  a  new  work. 

Weimar,  19th  Oct.,  1796. 

G. 


CCXXVIII. 

Jena,  23d  October,  1796. 

Cordial  thanks  for  Meister,  who  will  often  quicken 
and  inspirit  me.    I  have  delivered  the  four  other  copies. 

Humboldt  has  been  quite  taken  by  surprise  by  our  Alma- 
nac, and  has  revelled  in  it :  the  Xenia,  too,  have  made  on 
him  the  clear  impression  which  we  desire.  I  am  glad  to 
perceive  again  that  upon  every  liberal  mind  the  impression 
is  agreeable  and  enlivening.  In  Berlin,  he  writes,  although 
there  has  been  a  great  rush  for  it,  he  has  heard  nothing 
either  interesting  or  pleasant.  Most  people  spoke  of  it 
under  the  infection  of  moral  common-places,  or  they  laugh 
at  everything  without  discrimination  as  a  literary  bear- 
baiting.  Among  the  pieces,  which  he  did  not  before 
know,  the  Icy  Way  and  the  Muses  by  you  delighted  him 
particularly,  and  by  me,  the  Sexes  and  the  Visit.  Like 
Genz,  he  admires  the  Tahulas  Votivas ;  but  a  separation 
of  the  property  of  each  of  us  in  those  productions  written 
in  common  he  finds  very  difficult.  Of  the  Xenia  he 
writes,  that  they  are  all  put  upon  your  shoulders,  which 
opinion  has  been  confirmed  in  Berlin  by  Hufeland,  who 
maintains  that  he  has  read  them  all  in  your  hand-writing. 

I  have  heard  nothing  else  lately  of  the  Almanac,  and 
think  that  we  shall  but  too  soon  discover  how  very  little  at 
present  we  can  count  on  a  general  feeling  in  the  public. 

Humboldt  hopes  to  be  able  to  be  here  in  eight  days.  I 
rejoice  at  living  with  him  again  for  a  while.    He  writes 


186 


CORRESPONDEXCE  BETWEEN 


that  he  did  not  find  Stolberg  in  Eutin,  because  lie  happened 
just  then  to  have  gone  to  Copenhagen,  and  of  Claudius  he 
can  give  no  information. 

Your  Swiss  letters  interest  every  one  who  reads  them, 
and  I  am  very  glad  that  I  have  been  able  to  extort  these 
from  you.  It  is  also  true  that  they  give  an  uncommonly 
vivid  picture  of  the  Present  out  of  which  they  flowed,  and 
without  having  an  artistic  origin,  they  combine  together 
into  a  whole  very  naturally  and  aptly. 

The  conclusion  of  Meister  has  deeply  affected  my  sis- 
ter-in-law, and  in  this  instance  I  find  my  expectation,  as 
to  what  produces  the  chief  effect,  confirmed.  'Tis  ever 
the  pathetic  which  first  takes  possession  of  the  soul ;  only 
later  does  feeling  unite  itself  to  the  enjoyment  of  the 
serenely  beautiful.  At  the  first  and  also  second  perusal, 
Mignon  will  probably  leave  on  every  one  the  deepest  fur- 
row ;  but  still  I  believe  that  you  will  attain  that  for  which 
you  have  striven ;  that  is,  to  resolve  this  pathetic  emotion 
into  one  of  beauty. 

How  glad  I  am  that  you  propose  coming  for  a  few  days  ! 
Now  that  I  have  got  rid  of  the  labor  of  the  Almanac,  I  have 
so  much  need  of  a  new  animating  source  of  interest.  It 
is  true  I  have  undertaken  Wallenstein,  but  I  haven't  come 
to  close  quarters  with  it  yet,  and  wait  for  a  powerful  hand 
to  throw  me  entirely  into  it.  The  season  weighs  upon 
me  as  on  you,  and  I  often  think  that  a  clear  look  of  the 
sun  could  not  but  start  me. 

Farewell.  I  must  beg  you  to  have  the  bills  of  both  the 
engraver  and  book-binder  against  the  Almanac  made  out ; 
on  Wednesday  I  send  the  whole  account  to  Cotta,  and 
therefore  wish  to  have  each  voucher  separate. 

Farewell.    All  greet  you. 

SCH. 


SCHILLER   ANÜ  GOETHE. 


187 


CCXXIX. 

The  box  which  brought  the  biscuits  I  send  back  with 
many  thanks.  In  place  of  them  I  have  laid  therein  a 
number  of  the  Philosophical  Journal,  of  which  I  have  a 
duplicate,  and  which  I  beg  you  to  deliver  to  Niethammer. 

Of  the  last  number  of  the  Horen  for  this  year,  as  well 
as  of  the  first  for  the  next,  I  have  been  already  thinking ; 
but  so  far,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  without  hitting  upon  anything 
that  will  serve.  Such  old  things  as  I  have,  are  without 
proper  form,  and  are  indeed  out  of  date.  The  journal  of 
my  journey  from  Weimar  to  Rome,  my  letters  from  Rome, 
and  what  else  there  is  among  my  papers  relating  thereto, 
could  only  be  put  into  shape  by  myself ;  and  then  all  that 
I  noted  down  during  that  period  has  more  the  character  of 
a  man  who  escapes  from  a  pressure  than  of  one  who  lives 
in  freedom, — of  a  man  who  is  struggling,  who  only  be- 
comes aware,  little  by  little,  that  he  is  not  equal  to  the 
subjects  which  he  wishes  to  compass,  and  who  only  finds 
out  at  the  end  of  his  career  that  he  is  now  for  the  first  time 
in  a  fit  state  to  begin  it  all  over  again.  These  papers 
might  acquire  some  value  were  they  properly  worked  up  ; 
but  as  they  are  now  in  their  simple,  natural  state,  they  are 
altogether  too  naif. 

On  the  whole  I  am  tolerably  satisfied  with  the  Weimar 
public  as  regards  the  Almanac,  but  the  course  is  always 
just  the  same  ;  the  Xenia  sell  the  Tabulas  Votivas  and 
whatever  else  there  is  that  is  good  and  earnest  in  the  little 
volume.  That  people  should  not  be  everywhere  satisfied 
with  us,  was  just  our  design,  and  that  there  is  indignation 
in  Gotha  is  very  well ;  they  looked  on  there  with  the  great- 
est unconcern  when  I  and  my  friends  were  treated  very 
uncivilly  ;  and  as  literary  club-law  is  not  yet  done  away 


188 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


with,  we  avail  ourselves  of  the  liberty  it  allows  us  to  right 
our  own  wrongs,  and  to  cry  down  the  necrologic  vulture 
who  pecked  out  the  eyes  of  our  poor  Moritz  the  moment  he 
was  dead.  I  am  only  waiting  to  see  if  any  notice  is  taken 
of  it,  as  I  shall  then  expectorate  as  pleasantly  and  politely 
as  possible. 

I  wish  very  much  to  hear  that  Wallenstein  has  taken 
hold  of  you  ;  it  will  suit  both  you  and  the  German  theatre. 

Within  these  few  days  I  have  begun  to  examine  more 
closely  the  intestines  of  animals,  and  if  I  keep  at  it  pretty 
diligently,  T  hope,  during  the  winter,  to  get  very  well 
through  this  department  of  Organic  Nature.  Farewell.  1 
wish  very  much  to  see  you  soon  again. 

Weimar,  26th  Oct.,  1796. 

G. 

CCXXXI. 

Jena,  28th  Oct.,  1796. 

Herewith  you  receive  the  ninth  number  of  the 
Horen — six  copies  for  you,  one  for  the  Duke,  and  one  for 
Meyer.  I  beg  you  to  have  the  inclosed  delivered  to  Wie- 
land and  Knebel. 

Madame  v.  Humboldt,  with  her  children,  arrived  here 
this  morning.  He  is  still  in  Halle  with  Wolf,  and  will  be 
here  in  three  days. 

The  Humboldts  were  in  Berlin  lately,  when  our  Alma- 
nac arrived.  They  say  it  made  a  great  noise.  Nicolai 
calls  it  the  Almanac  of  the  Furies.  Zöllner  and  Biester 
were  quite  enchanted  over  it.  You  see  that  we  have  suc- 
ceeded with  Biester.  He  thinks  the  Xenia  are  written 
with  too  much  moderation.  Some  one  else  said  a  new 
plague  had  come  into  the  world,  for  that  every  year  people 
Avould  be  in  terror  of  the  Almanac.    Meyer,  the  poet,  was 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


189 


of  opinion  that  we  two  had  torn  each  other  to  pieces  in  the 
Xenia,  and  that  the  Distich,  Cheap  Resjwct,  p.  221,  was 
written  by  me  on  you. 

Weltmann  was  yesterday  with  me,  and  insisted  that  of 
the  Xenia,  Wieland  had  been  heard  to  say,  he  only 

regretted  that  was  praised  in  them,  because  so 

many  other  worthy  people  were  maltreated.    Woltmann  is 

firmly  convinced  that  no  other  than  is  meant  by  the 

necrologic  raven  that  croaks  behind  Wieland. 

At  last  has  appeared  the  first  printed  attack  on  the 
Xenia,  and  if  all  are  like  it,  we  need  give  ourselves  no 

thought  about  them.     This  attack  is  in  the  Imperial 

Advertiser.  Schütz  sent  it  to  me  ;  it  is  in  the  form  of  a 
distich,  in  which,  however,  the  pentameter  comes  before 
the  hexameter.  You  cannot  conceive  anything  more 
pitiful.    The  Xenia  are  spitefully  abused. 

But  what  will  amuse  you  is  an  article  in  the  new  Leip- 
sig  Intelligencer,  which  is  published  in  folio.  A  worthy 
anonymous  has  taken  up  the  cudgels  for  the  Horeji 
against  Reichardt.  Neither  is  named,  but  they  are  so 
indicated  as  not  to  be  mistaken.  He  thinks  it  very  censura- 
ble, that  the  publisher  of  two  journals  should  impudently 
praise  one  in  the  other,  and  betray  a  mean  envy  of  another 
journal.  For  the  present  he  is  content  with  giving  this  hint, 
but  should  it  have  no  efiect,  he  threatens  to  fall  foul  of  him 
very  roughly. 

Here  are  enough  novelties  for  to-day.  We  are  all  doing 
very  well ;  I  advance  slowly  with  my  work.  Farewell. 

SCH. 


190 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


CCXXXII. 

I  A3I  obliged  to  go  to  Ilmenau  for  a  few  days,  and  hasten 
to  thank  you  for  the  Horen  you  sent  me.  'Tis  very 
pleasant  to  learn  through  Humboldt  of  the  stir  the  Alma- 
nac made  in  Berlin ;  he  will  also  be  able  to  relate  how 
things  look  in  Halle.  So  soon  as  I  return  T  will  visit  you. 
Gotha  is  likewise  in  great  excitement  on  account  of  our 

audacity.    Herewith  is  a  leaf  of  distichs  by  ,  who 

takes  the  matter  quite  amiably.    I  send  back  the   

Essay,  also  the  copper-plates.  It  were  a  good  piece  of 
fortune  if  at  Ilmenau  I  can  bring  forth  another  piece  of  the 
Epic  poem  ;  the  Perfect  Solitude  seems  to  promise  some- 
thing. 

I  have  heard  again  from  Meyer ;  his  copy  is  finished, 
and  he  is  now  busy  again  with  descriptions  of  Antiqui- 
ties. Farewell,  and  write  to  me  still  here  ;  my  letters  are 
sent  after  me.  Many  regards  to  Humboldt,  and  to  your 
dear  wife.    I  long  much  to  see  you  again. 

Weimar,  29th  Oct.,  1796. 

G. 

CCXXXIV. 

Jena,  2d  Nov.,  1796. 

Only  a  short  salutation  for  to-day.  Humboldt  arrived 
yesterday  ;  he  sends  his  best  regards  to  you,  and  delights 
in  the  prospect  of  seeing  you.  He  is  well  and  cheerful,  but 
his  wife,  who  is  enceinte,  is  not  in  the  best  health.  He 
was  very  near  arriving  here  with  Reichardt ;  he  could 
only  escape  him  through  stratagem.  Reichardt  will  be 
here  in  a  fortnight,  to  take,  he  says,  Frederick  Schlegel 
away  from  this  to  Gibichenstein.  That  I  call  being  really 
carried  off  by  the  devil. 

They  say  he  gets  sentimental  about  the  Xenia,  and 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


191 


because  Schlegel  assures  him  that  you  had  no  hand  in 
those  that  are  directed  at  him,  he  takes  great  comfort,  and 
Humboldt  thinks  that  you  are  by  no  means  secure  against 
a  visit  from  him.  He  believes  that  you  still  have  some 
esteem  for  him.  He  also  praised  very  warmly  to  Hum- 
boldt your  articles  in  the  Almanac.  It  appears,  therefore, 
that  for  the  present  you  have  not  yet  attained  your  object 
with  him  ;  he  is,  and  remains  your  friend,  before  the 
world,  at  least  in  his  own  eyes,  and  will  probably  now 
more  than  ever  aim  to  pass  for  such. 

In  Halle,  Wolf,  and  particularly  Eberhard,  are  much 
pleased  with  the  Xenia,  and  even  Kleim,  the  relative  of 
Nicolai.  More  particulars  verbally,  because  this  is  a  busy 
post-day  with  me. 

Thirty  copies  of  the  Almanac  have  been  sent  to  me  to- 
day from  your  house. 

Farewell  ;  all  send  regards  to  you. 

SCH. 

ccxxxv. 

Your  two  letters,  most  valued  friend,  I  did  not  receive 
till  late  in  Ilmenau,  whither,  as  to  Cimmeria,  carriers 
slowly  come,  the  sun  seldom  penetrates  at  this  season, 
but  the  Almanac  found  its  way  early  enough.  I  rest  satis- 
fied for  the  present,  that,  on  the  whole,  we  have  produced 
with  both  little  works  the  due  effect ;  single  utterances 
can  seldom  do  the  author  good.  He  has  reached  his  aim 
— ^be  it  placed  near  or  far — where  readers  have  a  fair 
view  of  him.  Then  they  come,  they  go,  they  run  and 
even  trip  by,  others  stand  still  on  the  way,  others  turn 
right  round,  others  beckon  and  require  that  the  author 
should  turn  back  again  to  them  in  the  flat  country  out  of 
which  he  has  worked  himself  with  so  much  trouble.  Thus 


192 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


we  must  look  upon  the  universal  attention  we  have  excited 
as  the  whole  result,  and  privately  enjoy  ourselves  with 
those  who  are  drawn  to  us  by  sympathy  and  insight, 
which  are,  after  all,  the  only  pure  bonds  of  union ;  thus  I 
owe  to  you  closer  relations  with  Körner  and  Humboldt, 
which  to  me  in  my  situation  are  very  reviving. 

Through  the  immediate  contact  with  the  mountains,  and 
through  the  Voigtian  Cabinet  of  Minerals,  I  have  been 
drawn  again  into  the  realm  of  rocks.  I  am  very  glad  that 
I  have  thus  in  an  accidental  way  renewed  these  observa- 
tions, without  which  moreover  the  celebrated  Morphology 
would  not  become  complete.  I  have  on  this  occasion 
plucked  from  these  objects  some  good  views,  which  I  will 
take  an  opportunity  of  communicating. 

Otherwise  I  have  not  seen  so  much  as  the  hem  of  the 
garment  of  a  Muse,  nay,  even  for  prose  I  have  found  my- 
self unapt,  and  neither  of  production  nor  reproduction  has 
there  been  the  slightest  trace.  We  must  wait  patiently 
for  what  is  to  come.  When  I  can  see  you,  I  know  not 
yet ;  for  the  present  I  cannot  get  away  from  this  ;  perhaps 
I  will  come  just  for  one  day,  to  greet  Humboldt,  and  talk 
over  many  things.  Farewell,  and  give  my  regards  to  all 
around  you.    Herewith  is  the  copy  for  Humboldt. 

Weimar,  12th  Nov.,  1796. 

G. 

CCXXXVI. 

Jena,  13th  Nov.,  1T9G. 

It  is  truly  a  comfort  to  me  to  know  that  you  are  again 
near  us  ;  I  have  never  yet  been  so  long  separated  from 
you,  although  I  have  been  less  alone  than  usual.  I  shall 
be  happy  to  be  made  acquainted  with  your  new  discove- 
ries for  Morpliology ;  the  poetic  hour  will  strike  in  due 
lime. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


193 


Nothing  new  has  happened  here  in  your  absence ; 
neither  in  the  literary  world  has  anything  that  I  know  of 
turned  up.  I  send  you  the  Coadjutor's  letter  relating  to 
the  Xenia.  From  it  you  will  see,  that  a  man  may  sin 
largely  who  has  once  got  himself  settled  in  a  good  moral 
calling. 

I  have  been  studying  diligently  the  historical  sources  of 
my  Wallenstein,  and  have  made  some  not  unimportant 
advances  into  the  economy  of  the  piece.  The  more  I 
rectify  my  ideas  as  to  its  form,  the  more  enormous  appears 
to  me  the  bulk  which  is  to  be  mastered,  and  truly  without 
a  certain  bold  faith  in  myself  I  should  hardly  be  able  to 

proceed.    If  you  have  the  work  of  ,  on  Iffland,  I 

beg  you  to  send  it  to  us.  I  have  heard  such  odd  things 
about  it ;  they  say  there  is  a  letter  in  it  from  Mad.  . 

I  send  you  another  leaf  of  hexameters,  that  have  been 
made  against  you  or  me  in  Breslau,  by  a  champion  of  Mr. 
Manso.  It  is  strange  that  so  far  all  our  assailants  fail  in 
the  measure. 

Alexander  Von  Humboldt,  his  brother  tells  me,  is  de- 
lighted with  the  Xenia.  So  here  we  have  another  with 
whose  nature  this  substance  can  assimilate. 

Farewell.  All  send  best  regards  to  you  ;  the  Hum- 
boldts, who  thank  you  cordially  for  the  copy  of  Meister, 
long  to  see  you.    All  are  well  with  me. 

SCH. 

CCXXXVII. 

The  papers  I  received  from  you  to-day  shall  be  sent 
back  immediately.  It  is  really  remarkable  that  our  adver- 
saries have  not  yet  been  able  to  discover  the  element  in 
which  we  move. 

9 


194 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


I  send  you  the  "  High  German  Literary  Gazette,"  and 
beg  you  to  let  me  have  it  again  soon.  A  light,  superficial, 
but  well-meaning  treatment  of  the  whole,  such  as  this,  is 
not  unacceptable.  The  reviewer  is,  at  any  rate,  from  be- 
ginning to  end,  ä  son  aise,  which  would  not  be  the  case 
with  every  one.  The  mistakes  of  the  press  in  the  quoted 
passages  are  amusing  enough. 

I  send  also  the  book  you  ask  for.  Such  a  patchwork 
has  seldom  been  seen.  If  artists  and  works  of  art  did  not 
always,  like  loaded  puppets,  set  themselves  again  on  their 
legs,  they  would,  through  the  aid  of  such  friends,  be  stuck 
with  their  heads  downwards  in  the  mud  for  ever.  It  is 
extraordinary  how,  with  all  his  impotence,  the  author 
endeavors  by  certain  thrusts  to  make  himself  formidable 
even  to  his  own  hero.  His  malice  towards  you  is  con- 
spicuous in  several  passages.  I  have  a  mischievous  pro- 
ject, whereby,  through  a  sophistical  turn,  he  may  be  put  in 
the  wrong,  and  exterminated  on  his  own  ground.  If  you 
approve  of  the  joke,  I  will  execute  it ;  it  is,  1  think,  sans 
replique,  like  the  one  about  literary  sans-culottism.  But 
more  of  this  verbally. 

Meyer  sends  kind  greetings  to  you;  he  is  doing  bravely 
in  Florence,  both  as  to  active  work  and  study  ;  only  the 
loneliness  is  getting  oppressive  to  him.  Farewell,  and 
give  my  kind  regards  to  all  that  are  dear  to  you. 

Weimar,  13th  November,  1796. 

G. 

CCXXXVIII. 

Some  things  that  I  left  out  yesterday  I  will  at  once 
bring  up.  In  the  first  place,  I  congratulate  you  on  the 
second  edition  ;  you  could  not  well  do  otherwise  than  have 
it  printed  in  Jena.  Send  me  the  paper  for  the  covers  soon. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


195 


for  they  move  slowly  here.  I  will  at  an  early  day  send 
you  some  mistakes  of  the  press.  How  large  do  you  think 
of  making  this  edition  ?  We  may  yet  live  to  see  the 
third. 

You  can  announce  to  me,  however,  nothing  more  agree- 
able than  your  perseverance  at  Wallenstein,  and  your  be- 
lief in  the  possibility  of  a  completion ;  for  after  the  mad 
venture  with  the  Xenia,  we  must  devote  ourselves  to 
nothing  but  large  and  noble  works  of  art,  and,  to  the  con- 
fusion of  all  adversaries,  transmute  our  poetic  nature  into 
the  forms  of  the  noble  and  good. 

The  first  three  cantos  of  my  epic  poem  are  thoroughly 
worked  up,  and  have  been  once  more  copied.  I  look 
forward  with  pleasure  to  taking  an  opportunity  of  reading 
them  to  the  Humboldts. 

My  observations  in  Natural  History  give  me  much  plea- 
sure. It  seems  peculiar,  and  still  it  is  natural,  that  in  the 
end  there  must  result  a  kind  of  subjective  whole.  It  be- 
comes, if  you  please,  strictly  the  world  of  the  eye,  which 
is  exhausted  through  color  and  form.  For  when  I  pay 
close  attention,  I  need  very  little  assistance  from  the  other 
senses,  and  all  reasoning  transforms  itself  into  a  kind  of 
exposition. 

So  much  for  to-day,  with  a  hearty  farewell. 

Weimar,  15th  Nov.,  1796. 

G. 

CCXXXIX. 

Jena,  18th  Nov.,  1796. 

In  Copenhagen  they  are  furious  against  the  Xenia,  as 
Mad.  Schimmelmann  writes  to  say,  who  had  herself  a 
more  liberal  sentimentality,  and,  if  she  could,  would  like 


196 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


to  be  just  towards  us.  We  must  by  no  means  expect  that 
this  production  of  ours  will  be  estimated  according  to  its 
nature  ;  they  who  are  the  best  disposed  towards  us  barely 
tolerate  it. 

In  all  opinions  of  this  kind  that  I  have  heard,  the  mise- 
rable part  of  the  seduced  falls  to  my  lot ;  you  have  at  least 
the  consolation  of  the  seducer. 

It  is  indeed  very  well,  and  for  me  particularly,  to  bring 
before  the  public  just  now  something  important  and  earnest ; 
but  when  I  reflect  that  the  gTcatest  and  highest,  even  for 
sentimental  readers,  has  been  accomplished  by  you,  quite 
recently  in  Meister,  and  even  in  the  Almanac,  without  the 
public  being  able  to  overcome  its  sensitiveness  as  to  light 
attacks,  I  scarcely  hope  ever  to  get  it  into  a  better  mood 
by  anything  good  and  finished  in  my  style.  You,  they 
never  will  pardon  your  truth,  your  depth  of  nature  ;  and  for 
me,  if  I  may  here  speak  of  myself,  the  strong  opposition 
of  my  nature  to  the  times  and  to  the  multitude,  will  never 
make  the  public  my  friend.  It  is  well  that  this  is  by  no 
means  necessary  to  put  and  keep  me  in  activity.  You 
can  be  totally  indifl*erent  to  it,  particularly  now,  when,  in 
spite  of  all  shallow  talk,  the  taste  of  the  better  sort  is  taking 
such  a  direction  as  must  lead  to  the  fullest  recognition  of 
your  merit. 

Herewith  is  a  long  letter  from  Körner  on  Meister, 
which  contains  much  that  is  beautiful  and  excellent.  Pray 
send  it  back  to  me  immediately  by  the  carrier-girl,  as  I 
should  like  to  have  it  copied,  and  use  it  for  the  twelfth 
number  of  the  Horen,  if  you  have  no  objection. 

I  don't  dare  yet  to  think  of  the  Almanac  for  next  year, 
and  all  my  hope  is  turned  toward  you.  For  I  now  per- 
ceive clearly,  that  Wallenstein  will  take  me  the  whole 


1 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


197 


winter,  and  even  almost  the  whole  summer,  inasmuch  as 
I  have  to  deal  with  a  most  refractory  material,  out  of  which 
I  can  only  extract  something  by  an  heroic  perseverance. 
As,  moreover,  I  want  some  even  of  the  commonest  means 
through  which  a  man  is  brought  in  closer  contact  with 
life  and  with  men,  and  steps  forth  out  of  his  narrow  exist- 
ence on  to  a  wider  stage,  I  must  therefore,  like  an  animal 
that  is  deficient  in  certain  organs,  learn  to  do  more  with 
those  I  have,  and,  as  it  were,  make  up  for  the  hands  with 
the  feet.  In  fact,  I  lose  an  incalculable  quantity  of  strength 
and  time,  in  overcoming  the  limits  of  my  accidental  situa- 
tion, and  preparing  for  myself  special  instruments  in  order 
to  master  a  subject  so  foreign  to  me  as  the  living  world, 
and  particularly  the  political.  I  am  right  impatient  that  I 
have  only  got  so  far  in  the  tragic  tale  of  Wallenstein,  as  to 
be  perfectly  certain  of  its  fitness  for  tragedy ;  for  if  I 
found  it  otherwise,  I  would  not  indeed  entirely  abandon 
the  work,  for  I  have  wrought  enough  at  it  already  to  make 
out  of  it  a  good  dramatic  picture,  but  I  should  first  finish 
the  "  Knights  of  Malta,"  which,  with  a  much  simpler 
organization,  is  decidedly  adapted  to  tragedy. 

Farewell ;  we  all  heartily  long  to  see  you. 

Herewith  you  receive  the  copper-plate  from  Bolt,  to- 
gether with  paper  for  printing. 

SCH. 

CCXL. 

The  letter  of  Körner  has  given  me  a  great  deal  of  plea- 
sure, the  more  that  it  happened  to  find  me  in  a  decided 
aesthetic  loneliness.  The  clearness  and  freedom  with 
which  he  surveys  his  subject,  are  truly  admirable ;  he 
floats  over  the  whole,  views  the  parts  with  individuality 


198  CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 

and  clearness,  takes  first  here,  then  there,  a  voucher  for  his 
judgment,  decomposes  the  work  in  order  to  put  it  together 
again  after  his  own  fashion,  and  for  the  present  sets  aside 
whatever  disturbs  the  unity  that  he  seeks  or  finds,  instead 
of  stopping  at  it  at  once,  or  even  leaning  directly  against 
it,  as  readers  generally  do.  The  underscored  passage 
pleased  me  particularly,  as  upon  this  point  I  especially 
directed  an  uninterrupted  attention,  and,  according  to  my 
feeling,  this  ought  to  be  the  chief  thread,  which  latently 
holds  the  whole  together,  and  without  which  no  novel  can 
have  any  value.  This  essay  exemplifies  in  a  striking 
manner  the  fact,  that  the  reader  must  keep  himself  in  a 
very  active  productive  mood,  if  he  wishes  to  partake  of  any 
genuine  production  whatever.*  Of  passive  participation, 
I  have  again  unhappily  witnessed  the  saddest  examples, 
and  it  is  ever  but  a  repetition  of  the  refrain  ;  "  in  my  head 
it  will  not  go  !"  Of  a  truth,  the  head  takes  in  no  work  of 
art,  but  in  company  with  the  heart. 

Thus,  recently,  some  one  wrote  to  me  that  the  passage 
in  the  second  book,  page  138,  "No!  he  exclaimed,  thou 
imaginest,  thou  withered  worldling,  that  thou  canst  be  a 
friend.  All  that  thou  canst  offer  me  is  not  worth  the  feel- 
ing that  binds  me  to  these  unfortunates  !" — he  had  taken 
as  the  central  point  of  the  whole,  and  that  from  it  he  had 
drawn  his  circle,  but  that  the  last  part  didn't  fit  thereto, 
and  he  could  make  nothing  of  it. 

Thus,  another  assured  me  that  my  Idyl  was  an  admira- 
ble poem,  only  it  wasn't  quite  clear  to  him,  whether  I 
shouldn't  do  better  to  divide  it  into  two  or  three  poems. 

Are  not  such  utterances  enough  to  freeze  Hippocrene  to 

*  Wordsworth,  in  one  of  his  Prefdces,  has  a  passage  singularly 
coincident  with  this. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


199 


ice,  and  make  Pegasus  shed  his  coat!  However,  hve  and 
twenty  years  since,  when  I  began,  'twas  just  the  same, 
and  will  be  so  long  after  I  shall  be  gone.  Meanwhile,  it  is 
not  to  be  denied  that  it  does  nevertheless  look  as  if  certain 
views  and  principles,  without  which  one  ought  never  to 
approach  a  work  of  art,  must  by  degrees  become  more 
general. 

Meyer  sends  kindest  regards  from  Florence  ;  he  has  at 
last  received  the  Idyl ;  it  were  well  if,  through  Cotta  and 
Escher,  we  could  transmit  to  him  an  entire  Almanac. 

I  hope  that  the  people  of  Copenhagen  and  all  enlighten- 
ed inhabitants  of  the  North  Sea,  will,  out  of  our  Xcnia, 
draw  anew  argument  in  favor  of  the  real  and  incontroverti- 
ble existence  of  the  Devil,  whereby  we  shall  then  have 
done  them  an  essential  service.  It  is,  on  the  other  hand, 
very  distressing,  that  their  invaluable  liberty  of  being  A^apid 
and  shallow,  should  be  embittered  in  so  unfriendly  a  way. 

Korner's  essay,  I  should  think,  is  very  well  suited 
for  the  Horcn.  The  light  and  yet  so  excellent  style  in 
which  the  whole  is  treated,  will  make  the  contortions, 
that  are  to  be  expected  from  other  critics,  appear  so  much 
the  more  extravagant. 

For  the  rest  it  is  highly  necessary  that  I  should  see  you 
soon ;  there  is  much  to  be  talked  over.  I  wdsh  very  much 
to  be  informed  of  your  progress  with  Wallenstein. 

Farewell,  and  give  my  regards  to  all  friends. 

Weimar,  19  Nov.,  179G. 

G. 


200 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


CCXLI. 

JiNA,  22d  November,  1796. 

Probably  to-morrow  you  will  see  Humboldt,  who  goes 
to  Erfurt  for  a  few  days.  He  wishes  much  to  be  able  to 
pass  the  evening  with  you. 

You  have  perhaps  seen  the  new  number  of  the  "  Ar- 
chive of  the  Times,"  which  contains  a  sally  upon  you  b 
old  Klopstock.  It  has  vexed  him  that  in  your  epigrams 
the  last  year,  you  complain  of  being  obliged  to  write  Ger- 
man, and  he  vents  his  displeasure  in  an  epigram,  which  is 
in  truth  very  lamentable.  It  is  inserted  in  a  continuation 
of  his  grammatic  dialogues,  and  "  Judgment !"  thus 
speaks : 

"  Goethe,  thou  pitiest  thyself  that  thou  writest  me  ? 

If  thou  knewest  me, 
This  were  not  hateful  to  thee.    (?oethe,  I  pity  thee  too  1" 

Humboldt  will  tell  you  also  of  a  review  by  the  younger 
Schlegel  of  Woldemar,  and  of  a  fulminating  letter  of 
Jacobi  on  this  review,  that  will  very  much  amuse  you. 

But  when  shall  we  see  you  once  more  here  ?  I  heartily 
long  to  do  so ;  it  is  to  me  as  if  there  were  wanting  some 
thing  of  the  element  in  which  I  am  to  live. 

I  have  a  visit  and  must  close.  Farewell. 

ScH. 

CCXLII. 

On  a  card  accompanying  this  you  will  find  some  re- 
marks on  the  Xenia — perhaps  you  can  yet  make  use  o 
them. 

The  Humboldts  will  return  hither  from  Erfurt  on  Tues- 
day, and  will  dine  with  me ;  I  wish  you  could  make  up 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


201 


your  mind  to  come  over  on  that  day  with  your  dear  wife. 
You  could  remain  the  night  here  and  drive  back  again 
with  Humboldt  on  Wednesday.  The  present  weather 
requires  almost  so  heroic  an  undertaking. 

As  I  do  not  see  that  I  shall  be  able  very  soon  to  pass 
some  time  with  you,  I  will  come  perhaps  only  for  a  day  ; 
for  there  are  a  vast  many  things  in  which  I  discover  the 
want  of  your  participation. 

I  enclose  a  letter  from  Humboldt,  that  will  give  you 
pleasure.  It  is  truly  cheering  to  have  such  sympathizing 
friends  and  neighbors  ;  out  of  my  own  circle  I  have  never 
yet  met  with  anything  of  the  kind.  Farewell,  and  think 
of  my  invitation. 

Weimar,  26th  November,  1796. 

G. 

CCXLIII. 

Jena,  28th  November,  1796. 

I  SHALL  hardly  be  able  to  avail  myself  of  your  friendly 
invitation,  for  in  all  my  nerves  I  feel  this  wretched  season 
and  weather,  and  can  just  keep  myself  up.  In  amends 
for  this,  I  hope  to  see  you  soon  if  only  for  a  day,  to  hear 
from  you  your  latest  discoveries  and  observations,  and  at 
the  same  time  to  tell  you  what  I  have  been  about. 

Wallenstein  gets  on  just  now  very  slowly,  because  I  am 
still  occupied  chiefly  with  the  raw  material,  which  is  not 
yet  all  collected,  but  I  continue  to  feel  myself  equal  to  it, 
and  I  have  obtained  many  distinct  definite  views  as  to  the 
form.  What  I  wish,  and  what  I  ought,  also  what  I  have, 
is  now  tolerably  clear  to  me  ;  the  only  thing  now  is,  with 
what  is  in  me  and  what  I  have,  to  execute  that  which  I 
wish  and  ought.    In  regard  to  the  spirit  in  which  I  work, 

9* 


202 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


you  will  probably  be  satisfied  with  me.  I  shall  have  no 
difficulty  in  keeping  the  material  out  of  myself  and  in 
giving  only  the  object.  I  might  almost  say,  that  the  sub- 
ject doesn't  interest  me  at  all,  and  I  have  never  united  in 
myself  such  a  coldness  for  the  matter  with  such  a  warmth 
for  the  work.  The  principal  character,  as  well  as  most 
of  the  subordinate  ones,  I  treat  so  far  really  with  the  pure 
love  of  the  Artist ;  only  in  the  character  next  to  the  prin- 
cipal one,  young  Piccolomini,  do  I  feel  personally  inte- 
rested, whereby,  however,  the  whole  will  rather  gain 
than  lose. 

With  regard  to  the  dramatic  action,  as  the  chief  thing, 
I  have  not  yet  the  thoroughly  ungrateful  and  unpoetic  ma- 
terial quite  under  subjection  ;  there  are  still  chasms  in  the 
conduct  of  the  piece,  and  there  is  much  that  will  not  let 
itself  be  shut  up  within  the  limits  of  the  economy  of  a 
tragedy.  Neither  is  the  Proton  Pscudos  in  the  catastro- 
phe, owing  to  which  a  tragic  development  is  so  difficult, 
entirely  overcome.  Fate  proper,  does  too  little  towards 
the  misfortune  of  the  hero,  and  his  own  fault  too  much. 
Here,  however,  I  am  in  some  measure  consoled  by  the  ex- 
ample of  Macbeth,  whose  Fate  likewise  is  much  less  to 
blame  than  he  himself  for  his  ruin. 

But  of  these  and  other  difficulties  verbally. 

Humboldt's  comments  on  Körner's  letter  seem  to  me 
not  unimportant,  although,  as  regards  the  character  of 
Meister,  he  appears  to  go  too  far  on  the  opposite  side. 
Körner  looks  upon  this  character  as  too  much  the  proper 
hero  of  the  Novel  ;  the  title  and  the  ancient  usage  of  re- 
quiring a  hero  in  every  novel,  have  misled  him.  Wilhelm 
Meister  is  indeed  the  most  necessary  person,  but  not  the 
most  important;  this  is  one  of  the  very  peculiarities  of 


SCHILLER   A.\D  GOETHK. 


203 


your  Novel,  that  it  neither  has  nor  needs  any  such  most 
important  person.  To  him  and  around  him  everything 
happens,  but  not  strictly  on  his  account.  Because  the 
things  around  him  represent  and  express  the  active  ener- 
gies of  the  world,  but  he  represents  the  susceptibility  to 
outward  influences,  he  must  therefore  stand  towards  his 
fellow-characters  in  a  totally  different  relation  from  that  of 
the  hero  in  other  novels. 

On  the  other  hand,  I  think  Humboldt  very  unjust 
towards  this  character,  and  I  do  not  understand  how  he 
can  regard  the  task  which  the  author  proposed  to  himself 
in  the  Novel  as  ended,  if  Meister  were  the  heedless  and 
unprincipled  being  that  he  pronounces  him  to  be.  If  in 
Meister  humanity  itself  in  its  entire  compass  is  not  sum- 
moned and  put  into  play,  then  is  the  Novel  not  complete, 
and  if  Meister  himself  is  not  altogether  competent  to  this, 
then  you  ought  not  to  have  chosen  this  character.  It  is 
indeed  a  delicate  and  holy  circumstance  for  the  Novel, 
that  in  the  person  of  Meister  it  closes  neither  with  a  de- 
cided individuality,  nor  with  a  realized  ideality,  but  with  a 
middle  something  between  the  two.  The  character  is  in- 
dividual, but  only  as  to  its  limitations,  and  not  as  to  its 
compass,  and  it  is  ideal,  but  only  as  to  its  capability. 
Accordingly,  it  denies  us  the  immediate  satisfaction  which 
we  ask  (definiteness),  and  promises  us  a  higher  and  the 
highest,  for  which  we  must  trust  it  to  a  remote  future. 

It  is  comical  enough  how  in  such  a  product  so  much 
conflict  of  judgments  is  possible. 

Farewell,  and  give  our  regards  to  the  Humboldts. 

ScH. 


204 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


CCXLIV. 

I  SPENT  yesterday  very  pleasantly  with  the  Humboldts, 
and  until  towards  noon  entertained  the  hope  of  seeing  you 
here.  If,  meanwhile,  those  hours  passed  profitably  and 
agreeably  to  you  also,  I  am  rejoiced ;  may  it  continue  so 
until  you  attain  your  object. 

Starke  promises  me  copies  to-day,  and  I  hope  to  send 
them  with  this. 

Burgsdorf  made  a  favorable  impression  on  me  in  his 
behavior  and  the  little  he  spoke. 

A  new  work  of  Madame  de  Stael,  De  VInfluence  des 
Passions,  (fee,  is  very  interesting  ;  it  is  written  in  the 
constant  view  of  a  wide  and  great  world  in  which  she  has 
lived,  and  full  of  genial,  delicate,  and  bold  remarks. 

WaiMAR,  30th  Nov.,  1796. 

G. 

CCXLV. 

Very  fine  sledding  in  this  glorious  weather  has  pre- 
vented me  from  writing  to  you  for  some  days,  and  I  now 
say  a  few  words  to  you  in  the  evening  of  a  very  fair  day. 

The  work  of  Mad.  de  Stael,  of  which  Mr.  v.  Humboldt 
will  have  told  you,  I  will  send  you  in  a  few  days.  It  is 
extremely  interesting  to  see  how  one  of  so  much  sensi- 
bility and  ardor  passes  through  the  terrible  purgatory  of 
such  a  revolution,  in  which  she  was  obliged  to  participate 
so  largely,  and  I  may  say  comes  out  with  nothing  left  in 
her  but  the  most  spiritual  human  qualities.  Perhaps  a 
selection  might  be  made  of  the  highest  thoughts  in  a 
series,  and  used  for  the  Horen,  or  only  a  single  chapter 
be  taken,  but  soon  ;  for,  by  Easter,  a  translation  will  cer- 
tainly be  out.    This  I  leave  to  your  judgment. 

Although  I  presume  that  the  malice  of  our  guests 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


205 


will  have  supplied  Jena  with  copies  of  the  accompanying, 
I  nevertheless  send  you  mine.  It  is  amusing  to  see  what 
it  is  that  has  offended  this  kind  of  people,  what  they  be- 
lieve offends  others,  how  hollow,  empty  and  common  they 
esteem  an  existence  different  from  their  own,  how  they 
direct  their  shafts  against  the  outworks  of  appearances, 
how  little  they  even  dream  in  what  an  inaccessible  castle 
that  man  lives  who  is  always  in  earnest  in  regard  to  him- 
self and  everything  around  him. 

So  many  circumstances  and  relations  chain  me  here 
still,  as  I  shouldn't  now  like  to  come  to  you  without  re- 
maining at  least  some  days  with  you.  The  theatre  is  just 
getting  under  way,  through  the  means  of  some  good 
pieces  and  representations,  and  a  new  regulation  for  its 
management  requires  my  presence. 

I  also  expect  young  Jacobi  about  this  time,  and  shall  be 
obliged  therefore  to  forego  for  a  while  yet  the  inspiriting 
effect  of  personal  contact  with  you. 

For  the  rest,  things  go  their  usual  way,  and  I  have  good 
hopes  in  several  departments  of  my  studies.  Give  my 
best  regards  to  the  Humboldts,  and  tell  me  soon  how  you 
are,  and  how  your  work  prospers. 

Weimar,  5th  Dec,  1796. 

G. 

CCXLVI. 

Jena,  6th  Dec,  1796. 

I  HAVE  again  almost  entirely  lost  several  days  through 
bad  sleep,  and  find  myself  thereby  very  unpleasantly  inter- 
rupted in  my  work,  which  otherwise  makes  good  progress. 
An  occupation  like  that  I  am  now  on  irritates  one  who  is 
of  a  susceptible  morbid  nature  the  more  powerfully,  be- 
cause it  shakes  the  whole  man  more  thoroughly  and  con- 
stantly. 


20G 


CORRESPOXDEXCE  BETWEEN 


The  day  before  yesterday  I  had  a  half  hope  of  seeing 
you  here,  I  am  very  sorry  for  the  new  postponement.  If 
when  you  do  come  you  could  then  but  stay  the  longer ! 

The  dirty  production  against  us,  whose  author  is  said  to 
be  M.  Dyk,  in  Leipsig,  came  into  my  hands  a  few  days 
ago.  I  hoped  it  would  remain  unknown  to  you.  The 
resentment  of  certain  people  can  indeed  find  no  nobler 
utterance  ;  but  only  in  Germany  were  it  possible  that 
malice  and  rudeness  could  count  upon  not  forfeiting  all 
readers  by  such  a  treatment  of  respected  names.  Where 
there  is  no  shame,  one  ought  to  be  able  to  rely  upon  fear 
to  hold  such  culprits  in  check  ;  but  the  police  is  as  badly 
constituted  as  taste. 

The  unpleasant  part  of  the  affair  is  this,  that  the  very 
wise  moderate  gentlemen,  however  incapable  they  be  of 
taking  such  a  work  under  their  protection,  will  neverthe- 
less exult  and  say,  that  our  attack  produced  it,  and  that,  at 
bottom,  we  are  the  cause  of  the  scandal. 

For  the  rest,  these  distichs  are  the  most  shining  justifi- 
cation of  ours,  and  there  is  no  help  for  him  who  does  not 
now  perceive  that  the  Xcnia  are  a  poetic  production. 
Coarseness  and  offensiveness  could  not  be  more  clearly 
distilled  from  genius  and  bad  humor  than  has  here  been 
done,  and  the  whole  Dykian  party  has  now  the  disadvan- 
tage of  having  gone  infinitely  farther  in  the  only  thing 
with  which  they  could  at  all  have  reproached  us.  I  am 
now  curious  whether  some  voices  will  not  spontaneously 
be  liftÄl  up  for  the  Xcnia ;  for  we,  of  course,  can  take  no 
notice  of  a  thing  like  this. 

I  await  whh  curiosity  the  work  of  Mad.  de  Stael.  It 
would  give  an  advantageous  variety  to  the  Horcn,  if  we 
extract  what  is  most  piquant  and  pithy. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


207 


We  shall  apparently  be  very  successful  with  Agnes  von 
Lilien ;  for  all  the  voices  that  I  have  been  able  to  gather 
here  pronounce  themselves  in  its  favor.  Could  you, 
however,  believe  it,  that  our  great  critics  here,  the  Schle- 
gels, have  not  for  an  instant  doubted  that  it  is  by  you  ? 
Nay,  Madame  Schlegel  thinks  that  you  have  never  yet 
created  so  pure  and  perfect  a  female  character,  and  she 
admits  that  her  opinion  of  you  has  been  very  much  elevat- 
ed by  this  production.  Others  seem  to  be  quite  otherwise 
edified  by  it  than  by  the  fourth  volume  of  Meister.  I 
have  not  yet  been  able  to  make  up  my  mind  to  dispel  this 
happy  illusion. 

Farewell,  and  do  not  allow  yourself  to  be  disturbed  in 
your  tranquillity  either  by  this  unexpected  present,  or  by 
that  insolence.  What  is,  is,  and  what  is  to  be,  will  not 
fail  to  come. 

We  all  send  you  hearty  good  wishes. 

ScH. 

CCXLVM. 

The  work  of  Madame  de  Stael  accompanies  this  ;  I 
am  sure  it  will  delight  you.  I  have  also  already  had  the 
notion  that  it  might  be  used  for  the  Horen ;  it  were 
perhaps  practicable  to  string  together  the  most  remarkable 
passages.  Do  you  therefore  read  the  book  with  pencil 
in  hand,  and  make  your  remarks,  and  beg  Mr.  Humboldt  to 
do  the  same  ;  thereby  my  work  of  selection  will  be  facili- 
tated ;  so  soon  as  I  get  it  back  I  can  begin.  A  pa?ltage 
of  Cellini  is  ready,  if  you  need  it. 

I  also  send  another  Elegy,  for  which  I  desire  your  ap- 
proval. At  the  same  time  that  I  announce  therein  my  new 
poem,  I  design  to  begin  with  it  a  new  book  of  Elegies. 


I 


208 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


The  second  will  probably  contain  a  longing  to  go  over  the 
Alps  a  third  time,  and  thus  I  will  proceed  further  either  at 
home  or  on  the  journey. 

With  this  I  should  like  you  to  open  the  new  year  of 
the  Horen,  in  order  that  people  may  see  that  we  in 
every  way  stand  firm,  and  are  prepared  for  every  event. 

To  me,  who  have  known  the  Germans  so  long,  there 
was  nothing  peculiar  in  the  Dykian  attack.  We  may  ex- 
pect more  of  the  same  kind.  The  German  sees  only 
matter,  and  thinks  that  if  for  a  poem  he  gives  matter, 
he  is  even  with  it ;  his  idea  of  form  reaches  no  further 
than  the  metre. 

To  be  candid,  however,  the  conduct  of  these  people  is 
altogether  what  I  wish ;  for  it  is  a  policy  not  sufficiently 
known  and  practised,  that  whoever  makes  pretension  to 
any  posthumous  fame,  should  force  his  contemporaries  to 
out  with  whatever  they  have  against  him.  The  impres- 
sion made  thereby  he  always  effaces  by  his  presence,  his 
life  and  activity.  Of  what  avail  was  it  to  many  a  discreet, 
meritorious,  and  clever  man,  whom  1  have  outlived,  that, 
through  incredible  compliance,  passiveness,  flattery,  ad- 
vancing and  retiring,  he  obtained  a  tolerable  reputation 
during  his  life  ?  The  instant  he  is  dead,  the  devil's 
attorney  plants  himself  by  the  side  of  the  corpse,  and  the 
angel,  who  is  there  to  be  his  counterpart,  wears  mostly  a 
very  sorrowful  visage. 

I  hope  that  the  Xenia  will  continue  operating  for  a 
long  ^hile,  and  keep  alive  the  evil  spirit  against  us  ;  in 
the  mean  time  we  will  proceed  with  our  positive  labors, 
and  leave  to  it  the  torment  of  negation.  Not  until  they 
are  again  perfectly  quiet,  and  think  themselves  safe,  must 
we  (if  the  humor  holds)  once  more  stir  up  their  bile  from 
the  very  bottom. 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


209 


Let  me  have  as  long  as  possible  the  honor  of  passing 
for  the  author  of  Agnes  von  Lilien.  It  is  a  pity  that  we 
don't  live  in  darker  times  ;  for  then  posterity  vi^ould  have 
a  fine  library  under  my  name.  Some  one  assured  me,  the 
other  day,  that  he  had  lost  a  considerable  bet,  because  he 
obstinately  maintained  that  I  was  the  author  of  Mr. 
Starke. 

With  me,  too,  one  day  follows  the  other,  not  indeed  un- 
occupied, but,  I'm  sorry  to  say,  almost  without  profit.  I 
must  make  an  arrangement  to  change  my  sleeping  room, 
in  order  that  I  may  dictate  in  bed  in  the  morning  some 
hours  before  day.  May  you  likewise  find  the  means 
better  to  employ  time,  which  is  only  truly  precious  to  more 
highly  organized  natures  !  Farewell,  and  give  my  regard 
to  all  around  you. 

Weimar,  7th  Dec,  1796. 

G. 

CCXLVlll. 

Jena,  9th  Dec,  1796. 

Thanks  for  what  you  sent  the  day  before  yesterday. 
The  Elegy  makes  a  peculiar,  deep,  affecting  impression, 
which  cannot  miss  every  reader's  heart  who  has  one.  Its 
close  reference  to  a  definite  existence  gives  it  additional 
emphasis,  and  the  elevated,  sweet  repose  mingles  so 
beautifully  with  the  passionate  color  of  the  moment.  It  is 
to  me  a  new  and  most  encouraging  illustration  of  how  the 
poetic  spirit  so  quickly  and  so  successfully  overmasters 
whatever  is  common  in  the  reality,  and  by  a  swing,  which 
it  gives  itself,  is  at  once  clear  of  such  fetters,  so  that  com- 
mon souls  can  only  look  after  it  with  hopeless  despair. 

One  thing  only  I  suggest  to  you,  whether  the  present 


210 


C  O  R  R  E  S  P  0  \  D  E  \  C  E  BETWEEN 


moment  is  entirely  favorable  for  the  publication  of  the 
poem.  In  the  next  two  or  three  months,  I  fear,  the  pub- 
lic will  not  be  in  a  mood  to  do  justice  to  the  Xenia.  The 
supposed  insult  is  still  too  fresh  ;  we  are  believed  to  be  in 
the  wrong,  and  this  feeling  in  readers  will  harden  them. 
It  cannot  however  but  happen  that  our  antagonists,  by  their 
violence  and  coarseness,  will  put  themselves  at  a  still 
greater  disadvantage,  and  excite  against  them  the  better 
disposed.  Then  I  think  would  be  the  time  when  the 
Elegy  would  complete  the  triumph. 

How  far  the  quiver  against  us  is  from  being  exhausted, 
you  have  another  proof  in  the  accompanying  sheet,  ap- 
pended to  the  New  Hamburg  Gazette,  and  which  has  been 
sent  to  me  from  Hamburg.  The  plan  of  this  repartee  is 
not  badly  conceived,  were  it  not  so  unskilfully  executed. 
Is,  pörhaps,  Reichardt,  or  Baggesen,  at  the  bottom  of  it  ? 

What  you  say  in  your  last  letter  of  the  higher  and  more 
remote  advantages  of  such  contests  with  contemporaries, 
may  be  quite  true  ;  but  yet  one  sacrifices  thereby  tran- 
quillity and  incitement  from  without.  With  you  this  is 
merely  an  inward,  and  certainly  not  an  outward  want. 
Your  so  peculiar,  isolated,  and  energetic  individuality  re- 
(juires,  as  it  were,  this  exercise  ;  but  otherwise,  I  know 
really  of  no  one  who  has  less  need  than  you  of  insuring 
his  life  with  posterity. 

The  work  of  De  Stael  I  have  not  been  able  to  take  in 
hand  until  to-day  ;  it  however  immediately  interested  me 
through  some  admirable  ideas.  Whether  any  use  can  bo 
made  of  it  for  the  Haren,  I  doubt,  because  a  few  days 
since  I  heard  announced  as  on  the  eve  of  appearing  a 
translation  of  it,  which  is  said  to  have  been  caused  by  the 
authoress  herself. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


211 


Herewith  I  send  a  copy  of  the  new  edition  of  the 
Almanac,  together  with  a  note  from  Voss. 

May  the  Muse  abide  with  you  with  her  choicest  gifts, 
and  long  preserve  to  her  glorious  friend  his  youth  !  I  am 
still  in  the  Elegy  ;  whoever  has  any  afhnity  whatever  with 
you,  perceives  therein  so  vividly  your  existence,  your  pe- 
culiar self. 

I  embrace  you  with  all  my  heart. 

ScH. 

CCXLIX. 

Mv  best  thanks  for  the  copy  of  the  second  edition  which 
you  sent  me  ;  it  looks  very  well,  and  probably  will  not  stay 
on  hand. 

That  you  enjoy  the  Elegy  is  very  agreeable  to  mc  ;  I 
conjecture  that  some  companions  will  soon  follow  it.  As 
regards  the  printing,  I  leave  that  entirely  to  your  judgment ; 
I  am  quite  content  that  it  be  not  made  public  for  some 
time.  I  shall  in  the  mean  time  communicate  it  in  manu- 
script to  friends  and  well-wishers  ;  for  1  know  from  expe- 
rience, that,  although  in  the  midst  of  conflict  and  excite- 
ment, enemies  are  not  to  be  converted,  there  is,  however, 
cause  for  confirming  friends. 

I  have  been  given  to  understand  that  something  is  soon 
to  appear  in  favor  of  the  Almanac  ;  but  in  what  form  or 
character  I  do  not  know.  I  observe  generally  that  it  is  a 
speculation  of  booksellers  to  have  anything  printed  pro  or 
contra.    That  will  be  a  fine  collection  ! 

The  manner  in  which  Voss  behaves  in  regard  to  the 
Almanac  pleases  me  well ;  I  am  very  glad  that  he  is 
coming. 

I  expect  a  speedy  answer  to  my  letter  of  yesterday. 


212 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


Diderot's  work  will  not  fail  to  entertain  you.  Farewell. 
Kind  greetings  to  all,  and  retain  for  me  your  so  well- 
grounded  friendship,  and  your  so  beautifully  felt  love,  and 
be  assured  of  the  like  from  me.* 

Weimar,  10th  Dec  ,  1796. 

G. 

CCLI. 

Only  two  words  for  to-day,  as  my  Optics  have  taken  away 
from  me  the  whole  morning.  My  exposition  becomes  more 
and  more  clear,  and  the  whole  simplifies  itself  incredibly, 
which  is  natural,  as  properly  elementary  phenomena  are 
treated  of. 

The  Sunday  letter  I  received  and  made  use  of  ;  I  pre- 
sume that  it  will  decide  the  matter,  whereon  I  wish  you 
joy  beforehand.  Farewell.  I  send  herewith  more  frontis- 
pieces ;  may  the  light  Terpsichoref  spring  still  further 
into  the  world  to  the  vexation  of  all  her  enemies  ! 

Weimar,  14th  Dec,  1796. 

G. 

CCLII. 

Yesterday  and  to-day  I  worked  so  diligently  at  Wal- 
lenstein that  I  forgot  entirely  that  yesterday  was  the  day 
for  the  carrier,  and  also  to-day  I  only  at  the  last  moment 
recollected  the  post. 

*  This  sentence  I  translate  word  for  word,  in  order  not  to  weaken 
or  modify  such  an  utterance  from  a  Goethe  towards  a  Schiller. 

t  In  allusion  to  an  engraving  of  Terpsichore  prefixed  to  the  Al- 
manac. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


213 


My  best  thanks  for  your  friendly  mediation  in  that  affair, 
which  makes  me  very  comfortable  for  the  future.* 
Thanks  also  for  the  Terpsichore. 
We  all  send  hearty  regards. 

J«NA,  14th  Dec,  1796. 

SCH. 

CCLIII. 

That  Wallenstein  gets  on  bravely  as  you  write  is  to  be 
expected,  and  my  hopes  of  him  are  the  stronger  now  that 
he  has  begun  to  create  himself,  and  I  am  glad  that  I  shall 
find  the  first  Act  finished  by  the  New  Year.  Sooner,  how- 
ever, I  shall  not  be  able  to  come,  as  I  have  a  journey 
before  me,  of  which  I  will  tell  you  further  when  it  is 
decided. 

The  Optics  go  forward,  although  I  at  present  pursue  the 
study  more  as  an  occupation  than  as  an  amateur  ;  never- 
theless the  papers  are  already  in  that  state  of  preparation 
that  it  is  not  difficult  to  act  upon  them.  Knebel  takes  an 
interest  in  the  investigation,  which  is  a  great  advantage  to 
me,  as  thus  I  write  for  others  as  well  as  myself.    For  the 

*  Allusion  is  here  made,  probably,  to  a  pension  bestowed  by  the 
Grand  Duke  of  Weimar  upon  Schiller,  in  addition  to  his  salary  as 
Professor  in  the  University  of  Jena.  The  "  Sunday  letter,"  men- 
tioned in  the  preceding  note,  refers,  no  doubt,  to  the  same  affair ; 
to  which,  also,  allusion  is  made  towards  the  end  of  letter  249,  just 
before  that  warm  expression  of  Goethe's  feelings,  which,  with  ten- 
der consideration,  he  chose  the  moment  to  make  when  he  was 
doing  his  friend  an  important  kindness,  designing  to  kindle  in  Schil- 
ler a  glow  that  would  make  his  bosom  too  warm  for  any  feeling  of 
pride. 

Schiller  was  put  at  his  ease  by  this  increase  of  income,  obtained 
through  the  generous  friendship  of  Goethe  from  the  enlightened 
libei-ality  of  the  Grand  Duke. 


214 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


rest  it  is  good  chiefly  as  an  exercise  of  the  mind,  a  quieter 
of  the  passions,  and  a  compensation  for  the  passions,  a 
Mad.  de  Stael  has  circumstantially  explained. 

Send  me  her  book  back  soon  ;  everybody  is  asking  afte 
it.  Use  has  already  been  made  of  it  in  the  Mercury 
Diderot  you  can  keep  longer ;  it  is  a  splendid  book,  an 
almost  says  even  more  to  the  Poet  than  to  the  plastic  Art 
ist,  notwithstanding  that  it  often  waves  before  the  latter 
powerful  torch. 

Farewell.  Regards  to  all.  Our  sledding  is  very  gay 
Jacobi  is  with  me  ;  he  has  cultivated  himself  right  bravely 
More  soon. 

Weimar,  17th  Dee.,,  1796. 

CCLIV. 

December  is  going  gradually  by,  and  you  don't  come 
I  shall  begin  soon  to  fear  that  we  shall  not  see  each  othe 
again  before  the  year  ninety-seven.  I  am  glad  to  lear 
that  you  have  taken  up  Optics  in  earnest ;  for  I  think  tha 
this  triumph  over  adversaries  cannot  be  too  much  hastened 
For  myself  it  will  be  agreeable  to  me  to  get  a  knowledg 
of  this  subject  through  your  labors. 

My  work  advances  with  lively  steps.    I  hav'n't  found 
possible  to  separate  the  preparation  and  the  plan  from  th 
execution  so  long  as  I  in  the  beginning  wished.    So  soo 
as  the  firm  points  were  once  settled,  and  I  obtained  in 
general  way  a  steady  view  of  the  whole,  I  let  myself  g 
and  thus  were  several  scenes  in  the  first  Act  at  once  exe 
cuted  without  my  having  strictly  such  an  intent.  M 
perception  grows  daily  clearer,  and  one  thing  leads 
another. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


215 


Towards  Twelfth  Night,  I  think,  the  first  Act,  which 
will  be  also  by  much  the  longest,  will  be  so  far  done,  that 
you  will  be  able  to  read  it ;  for,  before  I  venture  further,  I 
should  like  to  know  whether  it  is  the  good  spirit  that  leads 
me.  An  evil  one  it  is  not,  that  I  am  sure  of,  but  between 
the  two  there  are  so  many  degrees. 

After  mature  deliberation  I  have  kept  to  dear  prose 
which  also  suits  this  material  much  better. 

Farewell.    With  us  all  are  tolerably  well. 

ScH. 

CCLVI. 

The  work  of  Mad.  de  Stael  has  arrived,  and  shall  go 
back  again  so  soon  as  the  curiosity  of  friends  is  satisfied. 
You  will  see  Knebel,  and  find  him  very  sprightly ;  he  is 
helping  me  on  at  present  in  a  most  friendly  way  with  my 
optical  labors  ;  I  am  just  now  drawing  the  plates,  and  as 
everything  is  here  narrowed  down,  I  discover  a  fuller  ma- 
turity. I  have  made  a  hasty  sketch  of  the  Preface  ;  I  will 
communicate  it  to  you  soon,  to  hear  whether  you  approve 
of  the  manner  in  which  I  have  handled  it. 

I  send  back  Boie's  letter ;  I  am  very  glad  that  he  sur- 
renders to  me  Cellini ;  I  will  in  return  give  him  a  good 
copy  of  my  Novel,  and  write  him  besides  a  friendly  letter. 

I  am  happy  to  hear  that  the  Elegy  has  made  a  favorable 
impression  on  Körner.  On  the  whole,  however,  I  am 
convinced  that  your  remark  is  just,  that  it  is  not  yet  time 
to  make  it  public  :  I  have  been  very  sparing  of  it  also  in 
private. 

On  the  third  day  of  the  holidays  I  go  with  the  Duke  to 
Leipsig.  Say  nothing  about  this  to  any  one  except  Hum- 
boldt, and  ask  this  friend  whether  he  advises  me  to  see 


21G 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


any  Other  person  besides  Professor  Lewis  and  Mr.  Fisher. 
As  we  shall  probably  go  to  Dessau,  we  shall  not  return 
under  twelve  or  fourteen  days ;  if,  therefore,  you  wish 
anything  of  me  before  I  set  out,  have  the  goodness  to  let 
me  know  soon. 

As  my  poor  subject*  will  have  to  endure  all  kinds  of 
suffering  on  this  tour,  in  particular  physically,  I  hope  to  be 
enriched  by  a  variety  of  new  objects. 

My  Anatomy  of  Fishes  and  Worms  has  again,  in  the 
last  few  days,  given  rise  to  some  very  fruitful  ideas. 

Farewell,  and  enter  the  New  Year  full  of  activity,  and 
continue  to  gain  ground  in  the  dramatic  field.  January, 
too,  must  not  pass  without  our  seeing  each  other.  Mean- 
while farewell. 

The  Schlegels  will  probably  tell  of  a  large  purely  literary 
entertainment  at  which  they  assisted. 

Weimar,  21st  December,  1796. 

G. 

CCLVIII. 

Leipsig,  1st  January,  1797. 

Before  I  leave  this  I  must  give  some  sign  of  life,  and  a 
brief  account  of  myself.  After  we  had,  on  the  28th  De- 
cember, struggled  through  the  wind  on  the  Ettersberg  and 
arrived  at  Buttelstedt,  we  found  a  very  tolerable  road,  and 
passed  the  night  in  Rippach.  On  the  29th,  by  eleven 
o'clock,  we  were  in  Leipsig,  and  have  in  the  meantime 
seen  a  quantity  of  people,  have  been  invited  to  dinners  and 
suppers,  and  I  escaped  with  difficulty  the  one-half  of  this 
kindness.  There  were  some  very  interesting  men  among 
the  crowd  ;  I  have  also  seen  some  old  friends  and  ac- 


Himself. 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


217 


quaintance,  as  well  as  some  admirable  works  of  art,  which 
have  washed  out  my  eyes  again. 

We  have  now  a  hard  New  Year's  Day  to  get  through,  in 
which,  in  the  morning  early,  a  Cabinet  is  to  be  examined, 
at  noon  a  great  banquet  to  be  eaten,  in  the  evening  a  con- 
cert to  be  attended,  and  thereupon  a  long  supper  is  also 
unavoidable.  When  we  get  home,  about  one  o'clock,  we 
have  before  us,  after  a  short  sleep,  the  journey  to  Dessau, 
which,  on  account  of  the  great  thaw  that  has  just  set  in, 
is  in  some  measure  hazardous  ;  nevertheless,  that  also  we 
shall  get  through  safely. 

So  much  as  I  rejoice  that  after  this  dissipation  I  shall 
soon  go  back  to  you  in  your  Jena  solitude,  I  am  yet  glad 
once  more  to  behold  such  a  mass  of  people,  with  whom  I 
have  properly  no  relation.  I  have  been  enabled  to  make 
many  good  observations  on  the  workings  of  dogmatic,  po- 
lemic, and  belles-lettres  writings,  and  the  promised  coun- 
ter-manifesto* will  not  be  the  worse  for  it. 

Fare  you  right  well.  As  we  go  so  early  as  to-morrow 
to  Dessau,  it  looks  as  if  the  journey  altogether  will  not 
last  too  very  long. 

Tell  Mr.  Humboldt  that  I  have  seen  Dr.  Fisher,  and 
have  been  right  well  pleased  with  him.  The  shortness  of 
the  days,  and  the  very  bad  thawing  weather  prevent  me 
from  making  as  much  of  my  stay  as  I  would  wish ;  yet  one 
finds  accidentally  much  that  one  seeks  for  in  vain.  Fare 
you  once  more  well,  cheerful  and  diligent. 

G. 

*  A  rejoinder  to  a  new  attack,  on  the  part  of  Reichardt,  proposed 
^by  Schiller  in  the  preceding  letter,  257,  which  I  have  omitted. 


10 


218 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


CCLIX. 

After  a  fortnight's  absence  I  am  safely  returned,  very 
well  satisfied  with  my  journey,  on  which  I  met  with  much 
that  was  agreeable  and  nothing  disagreeable.  I  have  a 
great  deal  to  tell  of  it,  and  so  soon  as  I  shall  have  again 
put  things  a  little  in  order  here,  I  will  come  over  to  you, 
if  even  only  for  a  day.  Unhappily  I  cannot  come  at  once, 
however  much  I  desire  to  speak  to  chief-counsellor-of- 
mines  Humboldt.  Greet  both  brothers  most  kindly,  and 
say  that  I  will  immediately  make  arrangements  to  procure 
for  Mr.  Gentsch  the  specified  books. 

I  much  desire  to  see  you  again,  for  I  shall  soon  be  in 
the  condition,  that  out  of  sheer  matter  I  cannot  write  any 
more  until  we  have  seen  one  another  again,  and  had  a 
right  thorough  talk. 

The  journey  brought  me  in  nothing  poetical,  except 
that  I  have  entirely  planned  the  conclusion  of  my  epic 
poem.  Write  me  what  in  the  meanwhile  the  Muse  has 
vouchsafed  to  you.  Greet  your  dear  wife,  and  tell  me  how 
the  little  ones  are. 

Weimar,  11th  January,  1797. 

It  is  very  odd  about  that  book  that  Counsellor  Schlegel 
brought  with  him  to  me.  Some  one  of  the  friends  present 
at  the  time  must  have  put  it  in  his  pocket,  for  I  have  not 
seen  it  since  and  thence  forgotten  it ;  I  will  immediately 
send  round  to  find  out  where  it  is.  When  you  see  Schle- 
gel, tell  him  that  I  have  a  compliment  to  bring  him  from 
a  right  pretty  woman,  who  seemed  to  take  a  very  lively 
interest  in  him. 

G. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


219 


CCLX. 

I  HAVE  just  received  your  dear  letter,  which  heartily 
rejoices  me  with  the  news  of  your  return.  To  me,  this 
time  of  your  absence  from  Jena  lasts  indescribably  long  ; 
although  I  have  had  no  lack  of  conversation,  still  I  have 
missed  just  the  kind  of  invigoration  I  most  need  at  my 
work.  Do  come  as  soon  as  you  can.  I,  to  be  sure,  have 
not  gathered  much  that  I  could  impart,  but  therefore  the 
more  eagerly  and  needily  shall  I  receive  whatever  I  can 
hear  from  you. 

We  are  all  as  well  as  we  are  wont  to  be  ;  I  have  been 
by  no  means  idle,  although  in  these  oppressive  dismal 
winter  days  everything  ripens  later,  and  the  right  form  is 
harder  to  find.  Meanwhile,  I  see  clearly  before  me,  and 
my  material  becomes  more  and  more  yielding.  The  first 
condition  of  a  successful  progress  in  my  work,  is  a  lighter 
air  and  exercise  ;  I  am  therefore  resolved,  with  the  first 
stirrings  of  spring,  to  change  my  place  of  abode,  and  to 
look  out  for  a  summer-house,  if  possible  in  Weimar,  with 
rooms  that  can  be  heated.  This  is  now  an  urgent  want 
to  me,  and  if  I  can  combine  this  end  with  a  more  frequent 
and  easier  communication  with  you,  my  wishes  are  for 
the  present  satisfied.  I  think  that  I  shall  be  able  to 
efi'ect  it. 

The  Reichardt  affair  I  have  for  some  time  past  put  out 
of  my  mind,  because  with  respect  to  it  I  will  gladly  ac- 
quiesce in  your  advice.  It  came  upon  me  in  the  close  air 
of  a  small  room,  and  everything  that  happens  to  me  must 
contribute  to  make  this  vexation  still  more  onerous  to  me. 

But  Wieland  will  now  likewise  come  out  against  the 
Xenia,  as  you  will  see  by  the  first  number  of  the  "  Mer- 
cury."   Now,  it  would  be  unpleasant  if  he  were  to  force  us 


220 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


to  a  conflict  with  him  too,  and  it  is  a  question  whether  it 
would  not  be  well  to  remind  him  of  the  consequences. 

Your  commissions  shall  be  attended  to.  I  send  here 
with  the  twelfth  number  of  the  Horen ;  the  other  copie 
will  come  the  day  after  to-morrow. 

We  all  embrace  you  cordially. 

Jena,  11th  January,  1797. 

SCH. 

CCLXI. 

Jena,  17th  January,  1797. 

I  AM  just  about  to  leave  off  work,  and  will  say  good 
evening  to  you  before  laying  aside  my  pen.  Your  las 
visit,  even  short  as  it  was,  has  removed  a  certain  stagna- 
tion in  me,  and  raised  my  courage.  Through  your  de 
scriptions  you  have  led  me  again  into  the  world,  from 
which  I  felt  myself  entirely  separated. 

But,  especially  am  I  rejoiced  at  your  lively  inclination 
to  a  continued  poetic  activity.    Through  this  a  freshe 
and  more  beautiful  life  opens  before  you,  and  to  me,  like 
wise,  not  only  in  work,  but  also  through  the  mood  int 
which  it  will  put  you,  will  it  impart  itself,  and  quicken 
me.    I  should  wish  particularly  to  know  now  the  chro 
nology  of  your  works ;  it  would  surprise  me,  if,  in  the 
developments  of  your  being,  a  certain  necessary  course  o 
nature  in  man  generally  were  not  traceable.    You  must 
have  had  a  certain,  not  very  short,  epoch,  which  I  might 
call  your  analytic  period,  wherein  through  division  and 
separation  you  struggled  towards  wholeness ;  wherein 
your  being  was  as  it  were  fallen  out  with  itself  and  sought 
to  reinstate  itself  again  through  Art  and  Science. 

Now,  it  seems  to  me,  you  returii  cultivated  and  ripe 
back  to  your  youth,  and  will  unite  the  fruit  with  the  bios 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


221 


som.  This  second  youth  is  the  youth  of  the  gods,  and 
immortal,  like  them. 

Your  small  and  large  Idyl,  and  also  lately  your  Elegy, 
show  this,  as  well  as  the  old  Elegies  and  Epigrams.  I 
should  like,  however,  to  know  the  history  of  the  earlier 
works,  of  Meister  itself.  It  will  be  no  lost  labor  to  write 
down  what  you  know  about  them.  Without  this  one  can- 
not get  to  know  you  entirely.  Pray,  therefore,  do  it,  and 
also  deposit  with  me  a  copy  thereof. 

If  anything  falls  into  your  hands  about  the  Lenzian 
inheritance,  remember  me.  We  must  scrape  together 
whatever  we  find  for  the  Horen.  With  your  altered  plan 
for  the  future,  perhaps  you  can  let  the  Horen  have  the 
benefit  likewise  of  the  Italian  papers. 

I  beg  you  also  to  think  of  Cellini,  that  I  may  have  it 
in  about  three  weeks. 

The  answer  to  friend  Reichardt,  I  beg  you  also  not 
entirely  to  forget. 

Fare  you  right  well. 

SCH. 

CCLXII. 

The  few  hours  that  I  spent  recently  with  you,  have 
made  me  eager  for  a  good  long  time  together  after  our  old 
fashion.  So  soon  as  I  have  in  some  measure  got  through 
with  various  things  here,  and  arranged  others,  I  will 
spend  again  some  time  with  you,  which,  as  I  hope,  will 
be  in  more  than  one  sense  fruitful  for  us  both.  Don't  fail  to 
profit  by  your  best  hours  to  bring  the  Tragedy  further,  in 
order  that  we  may  begin  to  discourse  about  it  together. 

I  have  just  received  your  dear  letter,  and  do  not  deny, 
that  the  wonderful  epoch  into  which  I  am  entering  is  to 


222 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


me  myself  very  remarkable  ;  unhappily,  I  am  not  yet  en- 
tirely at  ease  in  regard  to  it,  for,  of  the  analytic  period,  I 
drag  along  with  me  still  so  much  that  I  cannot  get  rid  of, 
and  scarcely  can  work  off.  Meanwhile,  nothing  is  left  for 
me  but  to  steer  my  vessel  on  this  stream  as  well  as  it  will 
go.  What  the  effect  is  of  a  journey  in  such  a  disposition, 
I  have  already  seen  in  the  last  fourteen  days.  Mean- 
while, as  to  the  distant  and  the  whole,  nothing  can  be  pre- 
dicted, as  this  regulated  power  of  Nature,  like  all  unregu- 
lated ones,  can  be  guided  by  nothing  in  the  world,  but, 
just  as  it  must  form  itself,  so  likewise  it  operates  out  of 
itself,  and  in  its  own  way.  This  phenomenon  will  give 
us  occasion  for  many  reflections. 

The  promised  article  is  so  ripe,  that  I  could  dictate  it 
in  an  hour  ;  it  is  necessary,  however,  that  I  first  talk  with 
•you  again  about  the  affair,  and  I  shall  the  more  hasten  to 
be  with  you  again  soon.  Should  a  longer  stay  in  Jena  be 
not  possible,  I  will  come  soon  again  for  a  day  ;  a  short 
meeting  of  this  kind  is  always  very  fruitful. 

I  am  correcting  now  a  division  of  Cellini.  If  you  have 
a  copy  of  that  which  is  expected  in  the  next  number,  I  beg 
you  to  send  it  to  me. 

I  close  for  this  once,  and  wish  you  farewell. 

Weimar,  18th  Jan.,  1797. 

G. 

CCLXIII. 

Jena,  24th  January,  1797. 

Only  two  words  for  to-day.  I  hoped,  after  your  last 
letter,  to  have  seen  you  here  some  days  since.  These 
few  fair  days  have  tempted  me  again  into  the  air  and  done 
me  good.  My  work,  however,  gets  on  at  present  slowly, 
because  I  am  just  in  the  most  difficult  crisis.    I  see  now 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


223 


clearly,  that  I  cannot  show  you  anything  until  niy  own 
mind  is  fully  made  up  upon  every  part.  You  cannot  put 
me  at  one  with  myself,  but  you  shall  help  me  to  put  my- 
self in  harmony  with  the  object.  Therefore  what  I  lay 
before  you  must  be  my  whole  ;  I  don't  mean  my  whole 
piece,  but  my  Avhole  idea  of  it.  The  radical  difference  of 
our  natures  in  regard  to  manner,  admits  of  no  other  truly 
profitable  communication  than  when  the  whole  confronts 
the  whole  ;  it  is  true  that  in  details  I  shall  not  be  able 
to  lead  you  astray,  because  you  rest  more  firmly  upon  your- 
self than  I  do,  but  you  would  be  able  easily  to  overturn 
me.    But  more  of  this  verbally. 

Do  come  right  soon.  I  send  herewith  the  latest  of 
Cellini  which  was  recently  forgotten. 

All  greet  you.  Humboldt's  wife  suffers  much  in  her 
confinement,  and  it  will  be  wearisome. 

Farewell. 

SCH. 

CCLXV. 

Sunday,  29th  January,  1797. 

At  least  a  hasty  sheet  shall  be  dedicated  to  you  this 
evening,  in  order  that  you  may  know  in  general  how  I  am 
getting  on. 

I  have  this  week  brought  about  several  important  con- 
tracts. First,  I  have  succeeded  in  getting  Demoiselle 
Jagamann  for  the  Court  here  and  the  Theatre ;  she  is  en- 
gaged as  Court-singer,  and  will  often  sing  in  the  operas, 
whereby  our  stage  acquires  quite  a  new  life.  Further,  I 
have  also  disposed  of  my  epic  poem,*  on  which  occasion 
some  pleasant  incidents  occurred. 


Herrmann  and  Dorothea. 


224 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


That  in  such  circumstances  no  aesthetic  mood  is  to  be 
thought  of,  you  will  easily  understand ;  meanwhile  the 
tables  of  colors  unite  themselves  together  better  and 
better,  and  in  observations  of  organic  beings  I  have  not 
been  idle  ;  in  these  long  nights  quite  extraordinary  lights 
shine  in  on  me  ;  I  hope  they  wont  turn  out  to  be  jack- 
o'lanthorn. 

Give  many  greetings  to  Humboldt,  and  beg  him  to  par- 
don me  that  I  have  not  yet  sent  the  books  relating  to  Italy  ; 
they  shall  come  on  Wednesday. 

Of  Xenial  matters  I  have  for  some  time  heard  nothing ; 
in  the  world  in  which  I  live,  nothing  literary  resounds 
either  before  or  after  the  blow  ;  the  moment  of  striking  is 
the  only  one  that  is  noted.  In  a  few  days  I  shall  know 
whether  I  can  come  to  you  for  a  longer  time,  or  whether 
.1  shall  make  again  only  a  momentary  visit. 

Farewell ;  greetings  from  me  to  all  around  you,  and 
stick  to  Wallenstein  as  much  as  you  possibly  can. 

G. 

V 


CCLXVI. 

Jena,  31st  January,  1797. 

I  WISH  you  joy  of  the  good  acquisition  for  the  opera, 
and  in  regard  to  the  epic  work,  I  hope  you  have  fallen 
into  good  hands.  The  work  will  have  a  brilliant  sale, 
and  with  such  writings  the  publisher  ought  not  reasonably 
to  seek  to  make  a  profit,  but  content  himself  with  honor. 
He  can  grow  rich  with  bad  books. 

As  we  are  speaking  of  mercantile  matters,  let  me  com- 
municate to  you  an  idea  that  I  have  just  now  much  at 
heart.  I  am  now  obliged  to  hurry  in  the  choice  of  our 
abode,  as  a  summer-house  is  for  sale  here,  which  would 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


225 


suit  me,  if  I  wished  to  continue  to  live  here.  As  I  must 
have  a  view  upon  a  garden,  and  such  an  opportunity  could 
scarcely  again  occur,  I  must  decide  at  once. 

But  now  there  are  various  out-weighing  reasons  why  I 
would  rather  reside  in  Weimar,  and  could  I  there  find  a 
dwelling  of  the  same  kind,  I  should  prefer  it.  According 
to  all  the  inquiries  that  I  have  had  made,  this  will  be  diffi- 
cult. As  you  lately  spoke  of  your  summer-house,  and 
thought  it  had  room  enough,  I  should  like  to  know  if  you 
could  perhaps  spare  it  for  a  longer  time  and  regularly  let 
it  to  me.  It  is  besides  a  pity  that  it  stands  there  without 
giving  any  interest,  and  I  would  thereby  be  helped  very 
much. 

Were  you  Aot  indisposed  to  it,  and  the  house  were  in 
the  essential  things  fit  for  a  summer  and  winter  habitation, 
we  could  easily  agree  upon  the  changes  that  might  still  be 
necessary. 

As  regards  the  garden,  I  would  answer  for  my  people 
that  nothing  should  be  injured. 

The  distance  would  not  frighten  me  :  for  my  wife  an 
outward  necessity  to  take  exercise  is  very  healthful,  and 
as  it  regards  myself,  I  hope,  after  some  trials  in  the  open 
air,  to  be  able  also  to  rely  more  on  myself. 

For  the  present  I  would  wish  merely  to  know  whether 
you  would  be  inclined  for  such  an  arrangement ;  the  rest 
would  then  depend  on  a  nearer  examination. 

Farewell.    All  send  regards. 

SCH. 

CCLXVII. 

At  last  you  receive  from  me  once  more  a  contribution, 
and  indeed  a  pretty  thick  package  of  Cellini ;  now  there  is 

10* 


226 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


bill  one  left,  and  I  wish  that  we  may  again  hit  upon  some- 
thing as  good.  I  add  also  some  Lenziana.  Whether  and 
how  some  of  this  is  to  be  used,  you  will  judge.  At  all 
events,  let  these  strange  sheets  lie  until  we  shall  have  once 
more  talked  thereon. 

My  summer-house  would  be  entirely  at  your  service, 
but  it  is  only  a  summer  residence  for  a  few  persons.  As 
1  myself  lived  in  it  for  so  long  a  time,  and  also  know  your 
mode  of  living,  I  can  say  with  certainty  that  it  will  not 
lodge  you,  the  rather  as  I  have  had  the  wash-kitchen  and 
wood-house  torn  down,  which  to  a  somewhat  larger 
household  are  absolutely  indispensable.  There  are  other 
circumstances  relating  to  it  which  I  will  tell  you  verbally. 

The  garden  in  Jena  to  be  sold  is  that  of  Schmidt,  is  it 
not  1  If  it  is  habitable,  you  ought  to  take  it.  When  once 
your  brother-in-law  is  established  here,  one  could  be  on 
the  look-out  for  a  vacant  lodging,  and  as  real  estate  is 
constantly  rising,  you  could  always  get  rid  of  it  again 
without  loss.  At  present,  such  quarters  as  you  wish  are 
in  no  way  to  be  found. 

From  Rome  I  have  received  an  extraordinary  essay, 
which  will  perhaps  do  for  the  Horen.  Its  author  is  the 
formerly  so-called  painter,  Mueller,  and  it  is  directed 
against  Fernow.  In  the  principles  which  he  sets  up,  he 
is  quite  right,  he  says  much  that  is  sound,  true  and  good  ; 
the  essay  is  also  in  parts  well  written,  but  is  upon  the 
whole  somewhat  feeble,  and  in  individual  passages  the 
mark  is  not  quite  hit.  I  am  having  the  little  work  copied, 
and  will  then  give  it  to  you.  As  he  wishes  to  be  named, 
it  could  therefore  be  printed  with  his  name,  and  at  the  end 
a  note  be  added,  Avhereby  one  Avould  take  a  middle  position, 
and  open  a  kind  of  pro  and  contra.    Mr.  Fernow  might 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


227 


then  express  his  rightful  needs  in  the  Mercury,  Mr. 
Mueller  in  the  Horen^  and  there  would  be  an  opportunity 
to  show  up  with  a  few  words  the  various  sillinesses  which 
Mr.  Fernow  puts  forth  with  great  freedom  in  the  Mercury. 

Thank  Körner  right  well  for  the  Duet  he  sent  and  the 
catalogue  ;  the  former  is  already  translated  and  in  the 
Theatre. 

Farewell.  My  winter  sky  is  clearing  up,  and  1  hope 
to  be  with  you  soon ;  everything  goes  on  prosperously 
with  me  and  I  wish  you  the  same, 

Weimar,  ]st  February,  1797. 

G. 

CCLXVIII. 

Jena,  2d  Feb.,  1797. 

You  have  quite  revived  me  with  the  package  of  yes- 
terday, for  I  have  never  been  in  such  a  strait  to  keep  the 
Horen  afloat  as  now.  The  work  of  Painter  Mueller  will 
be  very  acceptable  to  me  ;  he  certainly  is  an  unexpected 
and  new  personage,  and  it  will  also  help  us  very  much  if 
a  controversy  is  opened  in  the  Horen.  The  Lenziana,  so 
far  as  I  have  looked  into  them,  contain  very  odd  stuff,  but 
the  re-appearance  of  this  manner  of  feeling  in  these  times 
will  surely  not  be  without  interest,  particularly  as  the 
death  and  the  unhappy  life  of  the  author  have  extinguish- 
ed all  envy,  and  these  fragments  must  always  have  a  bio- 
graphical and  pathological  value. 

As  a  successor  of  Cellini,  Vieilleville  would  be  very  use- 
ful, only  it  would  be  necessary  to  make  extracts  instead  of 
translating  the  whole.  If  you  yourself  don't  wish  to  under- 
take it,  and  know  of  nothing  else  that  has  bulk,  I  will  then 
go  about  Vieilleville,  and  beg  you  to  send  it  to  me  forthat 
purpose. 


228 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


I  am  very  sorry  that  my  little  plan  in  regard  to  your 
summer-house  is  not  practicable.  It  will  be  against  my 
will  if  I  remain  here  ;  for  when  Humboldt  is  once  gone,  I 
am  entirely  alone,  and  my  wife  likewise  is  without  socie- 
ty. I  will  make  one  more  effort  and  inquire  whether  the 
summer-house  of  Privy-Counsellor  Schmidt  is  not  for  sale  ; 
for  even  were  it  in  its  present  condition  not  habitable,  I 
could,  were  it  my  own,  have  it  put  in  order,  which  is  what 
I  should  have  to  do  with  that  of  Professor  Schmidt  here. 

Farewell,  and  come  as  soon  as  you  can. 

SCH. 

CCLXIX. 

After  a  very  dusty  and  crowded  ball,  I  can  only  say  ar 
few  words  to  you. 

In  the  first  place,  I  send  here  the  work  of  Painter 
Mueller  copied  ;  I  have  not  been  able  to  look  through  it 
again,  and  therefore  lay  the  original  with  it.  As  you 
don't  want  to  use  it  immediately,  we  will  confer  about  it 
together  once  more,  and  you  must  consider  well  whether 
something  is  to  be  done  with  the  style.  Unfortunately  he 
compares  himself  with  perfect  justice  to  a  spirit  that 
speaks  on  compulsion,  only  he  does  not  express  himself 
so  lightly  and  airily  as  Ariel.  Much  you  will  find  is 
written  altogether  in  accordance  with  our  views,  and  also, 
imperfect  as  it  is,  such  a  public,  unsought,  unprepared 
conformity  is  valuable.  After  all  it  is  just  a  stone  which  wc 
throw  into  our  neighbor's  garden  ;  if  it  makes  a  little  rat- 
tling, what  does  it  signify  ?  Even  if  there  really  is  any- 
thing in  Fernow,  it  must  be  brought  out  by  opposition,  for 
his  German  subjectivity  sounds  only  the  more  marked  and 
absurd  from  Rome. 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


229 


Secondly,  I  send  you  a  Canto  of  a  strange  poem.  As  I 
know  the  author,  this  misleads  me  in  judging.  What  say 
you  ?  Do  you  think  he  has  poetic  talent  ?  There  is  in 
it  a  certain  free,  graceful  view  of  the  world  and  a  pretty 
youthfulness  ;  but  to  be  sure  all  mere  matter,  and  as  it 
seems  to  me  no  trace  of  a  comprehensive  form.  Suppos- 
ing that  there  were  a  poetic  school,  in  which  could  be 
explained,  at  least,  to  the  understanding  of  such  a  young 
man,  the  chief  beauties  and  requirements  of  poetry,  what 
do  you  believe  could  be  drawn  out  of  a  nature  like  this  ? 
At  present  I  know  not  what  advice  to  give  him,  except 
that  he  should  make  smaller  things. 

My  prospect  for  remaining  with  you  for  a  longer  time  is 
again  deferred.  The  establishing  of  Dem.  Jagamann,  and 
her  introduction  on  the  theatre,  makes  my  presence  highly 
necessary  ;  yet  nothing  shall  easily  prevent  me  from 
coming  to  you  Sunday  the  12th ;  we  shall  have  a  full 
moon,  and  returning  need  not  fear  the  rugged  valley  of  the 
mill. 

I  will  send  Yieilleville,  for  I  cannot  undertake  anything 
new.  Perhaps  the  idea  of  a  tale  that  has  come  into  my 
head  will  unfold  itself  further.  It  is  only  too  matter  of 
fact,  thence  I  don't  altogether  take  to  it ;  if,  however,  I  can 
give  the  little  vessel  a  good  chase  on  the  ocean  of  the  ima- 
gination, there  will  perhaps  be  a  tolerable  composition, 
which  will  please  people  better  than  if  it  were  better. 
The  tale  with  the  little  woman  in  the  box  smiles  at  me 
again  sometimes,  but  it  won't  yet  get  quite  ripe. 

For  the  rest  all  my  wishes  are  now  directed  towards  the 
completion  of  the  Poem,  and  I  am  obliged  forcibly  to  hold 
my  thoughts  back  from  it,  in  order  that  the  details  become 
not  too  distinct  at  moments  when  I  cannot  execute  them. 


230 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


Fare  you  right  well,  and  let  me  know  something  of  your 
mood  and  your  labors. 

Weimar,  4th  February,  1797. 

G. 

CCLXX. 

7th  February,  1797. 

These  last  carrier's  days  you  have  sent  me  such  a 
wealth  of  things,  that  I  have  not  been  able  to  get  through 
with  the  inspection  of  them,  especially  as  on  the  one  hand 
a  garden  that  I  am  bargaining  for,  and  on  the  other,  a  love- 
scene  in  my  second  Act,  move  my  head  in  very  different 
directions. 

Meanwhile  I  have  at  once  set  about  the  paper  of  Painter 
Mueller,  which,  in  a  heavy  and  harsh  diction,  contains 
very  much  that  is  excellent,  and  after  due  alterations  in 
the  style,  will  make  a  capital  contribution  to  the  Horen. 

In  the  new  piece  of  Cellini,  I  have  heartily  enjoyed  my- 
self over  the  casting  of  the  Perseus.  The  siege  of  Troy 
and  of  Mantua  cannot  be  a  greater  event  or  be  related  more 
pathetically  than  this  history. 

About  the  Epos  which  you  sent  me  I  shall  be  able  to  say 
more  to  you  when  you  come.  What  I  have  already  read 
in  it,  confirms  to  me  your  judgment.  It  is  the  production 
of  a  lively  and  flexible  fancy,  but  this  flexibility  is  stretched  to 
such  an  extreme,  that  absolutely  everything  swims  and 
melts  away  without  one's  being  able  to  seize  hold  of  anything 
of  a  permanent  form.  With  this  throughout  predominant 
character  of  pleasant  multifariousness  and  graceful  play,  I 
should  have  ascribed  it  to  a  female  author  had  it  fallen 
accidentally  into  my  hands.  It  is  rich  in  matter,  and  yet 
it  seems  to  have  remarkably  little  substance.  Now  I 
believe  what  I  call  substance  can  alone  become  capable  of 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


231 


form  ;  what  I  here  call  matter  appears  to  me  to  be  hardly 
or  never  compatible  therewith. 

No  doubt  you  have  now  also  read  the  Wielandian  ora- 
tion against  the  Xenia.  What  say  you  to  it  ?  Nothing  is 
wanting  but  that  it  had  appeared  in  the  Imperial  Gazette. 

Of  my  work  and  my  mood  for  it  I  can  just  now  say 
little,  as  I  am  in  the  crisis,  and  collect  together  the  best 
that  is  in  me  in  order  to  get  well  through  it.  In  so  far  I 
am  glad  that  the  cause  that  prevents  you  from  coming 
hither,  falls  just  in  this  month,  in  which  I  have  most  need 
of  isolating  myself. 

Shall  I  send  your  Elegy  to  the  press  now,  that  it  may 
come  before  the  public  in  the  beginning  of  April  ? 

For  the  Tale  I  wish  soon  a  right  favorable  mood. 
Farewell ;  we  rejoice  that  we  shall  see  you  on  Sunday. 

SCH. 

CCLXXI. 

I  AM  glad  that  you  can  await  the  aesthetic  crisis  in  your 
secluded  state  ;  I  am  like  a  ball  that  one  hour  throws  to 
the  other.  In  the  early  part  of  the  day,  I  endeavor  to  ^ 
work  at  the  last  portion  of  Cellini.  The  casting  of  the 
Perseus  is  in  truth  one  of  the  illuminated  points,  as  is 
likewise  the  whole  work  at  the  statue,  until  at  last  nature, 
art,  handicraft,  passion,  and  accident,  all  are  together  in 
operation,  and  make  as  it  were  the  work  of  art  into  a  na- 
tural production. 

I  am  succeeding  at  present  in  some  good  observa- 
tions on  the  metamorphosis  of  insects.  The  caterpillars 
that  changed  to  the  chrysalis  state  last  September  in  Jena 
come  out  now  by  degrees  as  butterflies,  because  I  kept 
them  in  the  winter  in  a  warm  room,  and  I  try  to  surprise 


232 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


them  on  the  way  to  this  new  transformation.  If  1  only 
continue  my  observations  one  year  more,  I  shall  have  run 
over  a  considerable  space ;  for  I  already  find  myself  often 
again  in  perfectly  well-known  spots. 

I  hope  that  the  negociation  for  the  summer-house  may 
succeed.  If  you  have  any  building  to  do  on  it,  my  advice 
is  at  your  service. 

The  Wielandian  demonstration  I  have  not  yet  seen,  nor 
have  I  heard  anything  about  it ;  it  is  to  be  presumed  that 
he  has  kept  in  the  wholesome  middle  road.  Farewell ; 
I  hope  still  to  come  on  Sunday;  Saturday  evening  you 
shall  know  certainly. 

Weimar,  8th  Feb.,  1797. 

G. 

CCLXXII. 

9th  February,  1797. 

Within  a  few  days  I  came  across  again  the  letter  of 
Meyer,  in  which  he  describes  the  first  part  of  his  journey 
to  Nürnberg.  This  letter  pleases  me  much,  and  if  three 
or  four  others  could  be  added  to  it,  it  would  make  an  agree- 
able contribution  for  the  Horen,  and  Meyer  might  moreover 
take  the  few  Louis  d'or.    I  here  send  you  the  copy. 

A  book  by  Nicolai  has  come  out  in  Berlin  against  the 
Xenia  ;  I  haven't,  however,  had  a  sight  of  it. 

I  have  now  made  a  second  offer  for  my  Smith  garden, 
1150  rix  dollars,  and  hope  to  get  it  for  1200.  It  is  at 
present  merely  a  light  summer-house,  and  will  cost  a  hun- 
dred dollars  more  to  be  habitable  even  in  summer ;  but 
this  improvement  of  my  existence  is  worth  everything  to 
me.  When  I  am  once  in  possession,  and  you  are  here, 
Ave  will  beg  you  to  advise  and  help  us. 

All  else  verbally.  I  hope  certainly  to  see  you  the  day 
after  to-morrow,  but  I  send  at  any  rate  the  Journal  to-day. 

V 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


233 


Pray  have  the  enclosed  delivered  to  Herder. 
The  commission  to  my   brother-in-law  has  been  at- 
tended to. 
Farewell. 

ScH. 

CCLXXill. 

The  Horen  I  have  received,  and  thank  you  for  the  dis- 
patch. To-morrow  I  shall  be  with  you,  and  wc  can  talk 
over  many  things  together :  I  go  away,  indeed,  in  the 
evening,  but  hope  in  eight  days  to  come  again  for  a  longer 
time. 

To  that  confounded  Nicolai  nothing  could  be  more  wel- 
come than  to  be  only  once  more  attacked ;  with  him  is 
always  bonus  odor  ex  re  qualibet,  and  the  money  that  the 
volume  brings  in  is  not  at  all  distasteful  to  him.  These 
gentlemen,  one  and  all,  owe  us  thanks  that  we  give  them 
an  opportunity  to  fill  some  sheets  and  to  get  paid  for  it, 
without  great  outlay  of  productive  force. 

Don't  fail  to  make  sure  of  the  garden  ;  I  like  the  situa- 
tion much ;  besides  its  pleasantness,  it  is  moreover  a  very 
healthy  spot.  Fare  you  right  well.  1  look  forward  with 
pleasure  to  to-morrow,  I  shall  dine  with  you,  but  alone. 
Privy-Counsellor  Voight,  who  comes  with  me,  will  stop 
at-  Hufeland's,  and  in  the  afternoon  we  shall  cross  visits. 

Weimar,  llth  February,  1797. 

G. 

CCLXXXIV. 

Out  of  the  late  variety  and  sociableness,  I  am  all  at 
once  transplanted  into  the  greatest  solitude,  and  thrown 
back  upon  myself.  Besides  you  and  Humboldt,  all  female 
society  has  deserted  me,  and  I  employ  this  quiet  in  reflect- 


234 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


ing  on  my  tragico-dramatic  duties.  At  the  same  time  I 
have  planned  a  detailed  scenarium  of  the  entire  Wallen- 
stein, in  order  to  facilitate  for  me  mechanically  through 
the  eyes  the  survey  of  the  points  of  time  and  of  the  con- 
nection of  the  parts. 

I  find,  the  more  I  reflect  on  my  own  work,  and  on  th« 
mode  of  treatment  in  tragedy  among  the  Greeks,  that  the 
whole  cardo  rci  in  art  lies  in  the  invention  of  a  poetic  fable 
The  modern  I'rets  himself  laboriously  and  anxiously  with 
accidents  and  accessories,  and  in  the  struggle  to  get  right 
close  to  reality,  he  burdens  himself  with  the  empty  and  in- 
significant, and  thereby  he  runs  the  risk  of  losing  deep- 
buried  truth,  wherein  strictly  lies  all  the  poetical.  He 
would  like  to  imitate  perfectly  a  real  case,  and  does  not 
reflect  that  a  poetic  representation  never  can  coincide  with 
the  reality,  for  the  very  reason  that  it  is  absolutely  true. 

Within  a  few  days  I  have  read  Philoctetes  and  the 
Trachinian  Women,  and  the  latter  with  great  enjoyment. 
How  admirably  is  the  whole  situation,  the  feeling,  the 
existence  of  Dejanira  seized !  How  ^tirely  is  she  the 
housewife  of  Hercules  !  How  individual,  how  solely  suited 
to  this  single  case  is  this  picture,  and  yet  how  deeply  hu- 
man, how  eternally  true  and  universal !  In  Philoctetes, 
likewise,  everything  is  extracted  from  the  situation  that 
could  be  extracted  from  it,  and  yet  by  the  side  of  this  in- 
dividuality of  circumstance,  all  at  last  reposes  on  the  eter- 
nal ground  of  human  nature. 

It  struck  me  that  the  characters  of  the  Greek  Tragedy 
are  more  or  less  ideal  masks  and  not  genuine  individuals, 
as  I  find  them  in  Shakspeare  and  in  your  pieces.  Thus, 
for  example,  Ulysses,  in  Ajax  and  in  Philoctetes,  is  obvi- 
ously only  the  ideal  of  cunning,  narrow-souled  prudence, 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


235 


that  is  never  embarrassed  as  to  its  means  ;  thus  Crcon,  in 
CEdipus  and  in  Antigone,  is  merely  cold,  kingly  dignity. 
With  such  characters  in  tragedy  one  succeeds  evidently 
much  better ;  they  unfold  themselves  more  rapidly,  and 
their  features  are  more  permanent  and  firmer.  Truth 
suffers  nothing  thereby,  because  they  are  as  opposite  to 
mere  logical  entities  as  to  mere  individuals. 

I  send  you  here,  pour  la  bonne  bouche,  a  most  charming 
fragment  out  of  Aristophanes,  which  Humboldt  left  me. 
It  is  delightful,  1  wish  to  have  the  rest  of  it  also. 

A  few  days  since  I  was  surprised  by  a  large  magnificent 
sheet  of  parchment  from  Stockholm.  I  thought,  as  I  opened 
the  diploma  with  its  great  wax  seal,  that  a  pension  at  the 
least  would  jump  out  of  it ;  after  all,  it  was  merely  a  diplo- 
ma from  the  Academy  of  Sciences.  However,  it  always 
gives  pleasure  when  one  extends  his  roots  and  sees  his 
existence  acting  upon  others. 

I  hope  soon  to  receive  from  you  a  new  piece  of  Cellini. 

Fare  you  right  well,  my  dear,  my  ever  dear  friend.  I 
am  still  surrounded  by  the  beautiful  spirits  which  you  left 
!  me  here,  and  I  hope  ever  to  become  more  familiar  with 
them.    Fare  you  right  well. 

1       Jena,  4th  April,  1797. 

SCH, 

CCLXXXV. 

With  me  it  is  just  the  reverse.  Directly  upon  the  col- 
lected life  I  had  in  Jena,  I  have  been  plunged  into  a 
diversified  activity  with  all  kinds  of  small  afi'airs,  which 
for  a  good  while  will  pull  me  hither  and  thither ;  mean- 
while I  will  do  a  variety  of  things,  for  which  I  don't 
require  the  purest  mood. 


236 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


You  are  quite  right  that  in  the  figures  of  ancient  poetry, 
as  in  sculpture,  there  appears  an  abstractum,  that  can 
only  attain  its  elevation  through  what  is  called  style. 
There  are  also  ahstracta  through  manner,  as  with  the 
French.  On  the  success  of  the  Fable  everything  indeed 
depends ;  one  is  safe  as  to  the  chief  expenditure,  the  ma- 
jority of  readers  and  spectators  after  all  take  in  nothing 
else,  and  to  the  poet  remains  the  whole  merit  of  an  ani- 
mated execution,  which  can  be  the  better  sustained  the 
better  the  fable  is.  Therefore  will  we  also,  in  future,  test 
more  carefully  than  hitherto  what  is  to  be  undertaken. 

Here  comes  the  first  part  of  Vieilleville,  the  others  I 
can  send  by  degrees. 

Greet  your  dear  wife  ;  unhappily  1  did  not  see  her  during 
her  stay  here. 

I  congratulate  you  on  the  diploma ;  such  manifestations, 
as  barometrical  indices  of  public  opinion,  are  not  to  be 
despised. 

Farewell,  and  write  me  oftener  ;  although  for  a  while  I 
shall  be  a  bad  correspondent. 

Weimar,  5th  April,  1797.  1 

CCLXXXVI.  ■ 
Jena,  7th  April,  1797.^ 

Among  some  cabalistic  and  astrological  works  which  I 
have  had  out  of  the  library  here,  I  found  a  dialogue  on 
Love,  translated  from  the  Hebrew  into  Latin,  which  has 
not  only  amused  me  very  much,  but  has  also  advanced  me 
greatly  in  my  astrological  knowledge.  The  mixture  of 
chemical,  mythological,  and  astronomical  things,  is  here 
made  on  a  grand  scale,  and  is  all  ready  for  poetic  use. 
Some  remarkably  ingenious  comparisons  of  the  planets' 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


237 


with  human  limbs  I  have  had  extracted  for  you.  One  has 
no  idea  of  this  kind  of  extravagance  until  one  hears  the 
people  themselves.  I  am,  however,  not  without  hope  of 
giving  to  this  astrological  material  a  poetic  dignity. 

As  to  the  subject  of  the  treatment  of  characters,  touched 
upon  in  my  last,  I  shall  be  glad,  when  we  next  meet,  with 
your  help,  to  bring  my  ideas  out  fully  and  clearly.  The 
matter  rests  on  the  inmost  ground  of  art,  and  no  doubt  ob- 
servations drawn  from  the  plastic  arts  can  explain  much 
in  poetry.  In  Shakspeare,  likewise,  it  was  to  me  very 
striking  to-day,  as  I  went  through  Julius  Caesar  with 
Schlegel,  how  he  treats  the  common  people  with  such  an 
uncommon  greatness.  Here,  in  representing  the  character 
of  the  people,  the  material  itself  forced  him  to  have  in  his 
eye  a  poetical  ahstractum  rather  than  individuals,  and 
therefore  I  find  him  here  remarkably  near  to  the  Greeks. 
If  to  such  a  scene  one  were  to  brin^  too  anxious  a  thouoht 
about  imitation  of  the  real,  the  mass  and  multitude  would 
embarrass  one  not  a  little  with  their  insignificance  ;  but 
with  a  bold  grasp  Shakspeare  takes  a  few  figures,  I  might 
say  a  few  voices,  out  of  the  mass,  and  lets  them  pass  for 
the  whole  people,  and  they  really  do  pass  for  it,  so  happily 
has  he  chosen. 

A  great  service  would  be  done  to  poets  and  artists,  if  it 
could  only  once  be  clearly  settled  what  art  should  take 
from,  or  let  drop  from,  reality.  The  ground  would  be 
better  lighted  and  cleaner,  the  little  and  insignificant  would 
disappear,  and  there  would  be  room  for  the  broad  and 
great.  Already  in  the  treatment  of  history  is  this  point 
of  the  greatest  importance,  and  I  know  how  much  the  un- 
defined notion  in  regard  to  it  has  given  me  to  do. 

I  long  to  receive  soon  some  of  Cellini,  if  possible  in 


238 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


time  for  the  April  number,  in  which  case  I  must  have  it 
in  hand  between  to-day  and  Wednesday  evening. 

Farewell,  My  wife  sends  best  regards.  T  have  to- 
day a  heavy  post-day,  else  I  would  write  more. 

Sch. 

CCLXXXVII, 

Mr.  Humboldt,  who  doesn't  go  away  until  to-morrow 
morning,  sends  kindest  greetings  to  you,  and  begs  you  to 
have  the  inclosed  letter  delivered  immediately. 

Upon  the  last  Cantos  we  have  held  a  very  strict  proso- 
dian  court,  and  purified  them  as  much  as  was  possible. 
The  first  will  now  soon  be  written  anew,  and  look  very 
neat  with  their  double  inscriptions.  I  hope  to  send  them 
off  next  week. 

You  shall  also  receive  before  Wednesday  a  part  of 
Cellini,  in  twelve  written  sheets.  There  will  then  remain 
about  six  for  the  conclusion. 

For  the  rest  I  am  in  the  midst  of  a  good  deal  of  con- 
fusion, and  shall  be  able  to  effect  little  in  the  next  fort- 
night. 

The  astrological  conjunctions  of  which  you  inform  me 
are  strange  enough ;  I  am  anxious  to  see  what  kind  of  use 
you  will  make  of  this  material. 

I  wish  soon  to  talk  over  again  with  you  further  the  sub- 
ject that  interests  us  both  so  much.  Those  advantages 
whereof  I  availed  myself  in  my  last  poem,  I  leamt  all 
from  plastic  art.  For  in  a  work  that  stands  bodily  before 
my  eyes,  the  whole  visible  at  the  same  moment,  what  is 
superfluous  is  far  more  striking  than  in  a  work  that  passes 
before  the  eyes  of  the  mind  in  the  succession  of  time.  In 
the  Theatre  one  would  perceive  great  advantage  in  this. 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


239 


Thus  recently  it  struck  me  that  on  our  stage,  when  groups 
are  thought  of,  none  other  are  ever  produced  but  senti- 
mental or  pathetic  ones,  although  there  are  a  hundred 
others  that  can  be  conceived.  Within  a  few  days  some 
scenes  in  Aristophanes  appeared  to  me  precisely  like  an- 
tique bas-reliefs,  and  were  no  doubt  represented  in  that 
sense.  In  the  whole,  and  in  details,  all  depends  upon 
this,  viz.  :  that  everything  be  separated  from  every  other 
thing,  that  no  moment  be  like  another  ;  as  with  charac- 
ters, that  they  be  notably  distinct  from  one  another,  but  yet 
always  belong  to  one  species. 

Fare  you  well,  and  work  right  diligently.  So  soon  as 
I  get  a  little  breathing  time,  I  will  think  about  the  Alma- 
nac. 

Weimar,  8th  April,  1797. 

G. 

CCLXXXVIII. 

Jena,  12th  April,  1797. 

I  SAY  to  you  only  two  words  as  a  greeting.  Our  little 
Ernest  has  the  small-pox  fever  very  badly,  and  has  much 
alarmed  us  to-day  with  frequent  epileptic  cramps ;  we 
expect  a  very  restless  night,  and  I  am  not  without  fears. 

Perhaps  to-morrow  I  shall  be  able  to  write  more  with  a 
lightened  heart.  Farewell.  My  wife  greets  you  kindly. 
Don't  fail  to  send  Cellini. 

SCH. 

CCLXXXIX. 

May  little  Ernest  soon  get  through  the  dangerous 
crisis,  and  relieve  your  anxiety. 

Here  follows  Cellini,  who,  in  one  more  small  contribu- 
tion, will  soon  take  his  final  leave.    Whilst  looking  into 


240 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


the  patriarchal  remains  in  the  Old  Testament,  I  have 
again  been  struck  with  astonishment  at  the  confusion  and 
the  contradictions  of  the  five  books  of  Moses,  which,  to 
be  sure,  as  it  is  well  known,  may  have  been  put  together 
out  of  a  hundred  different  written  and  oral  traditions.  On 
the  journey  of  the  children  of  Israel  in  the  wilderness,  I 
have  made  some  quaint  remarks,  and  the  audacious 
thought  has  arisen  in  me,  whether  the  long  time  they  are 
said  to  have  passed  in  it  be  not  of  a  later  invention.  I 
will  take  an  opportunity  of  communicating  to  you,  in  a 
small  Essay,  what  has  brought  me  to  this  idea. 

Fare  you  well,  and  greet  Humboldt  with  the  delivery  of 
the  accompanying  Berlin  Monthly  Journal,  and  give  me 
soon  good  news  of  you  and  yours. 

Weimar,  12th  April,  1797. 

G. 

ccxc. 

Little  Ernest  is  better,  and  seems  to  have  surmounted 
the  danger.  The  small-pox  has  come  out,  the  cramps 
also  have  disappeared.  The  case  was  made  much  worse 
by  the  cutting  of  teeth,  for  one  tooth  came  out  at  the  very 
same  time  with  the  first  fever,  and  another  is  just  now 
breaking  through.  You  will  readily  believe  that  in  these 
few  days,  what  with  the  danger  at  first,  and  now  the  cry- 
ing of  the  dear  child,  I  have  not  been  able  to  do  much. 
Neither  can  I  move  into  the  summer-house  until  all  is  in 
order  again  with  the  child. 

Your  discoveries  in  the  five  Books  amuse  me  much. 
Don't  fail  to  write  down  your  thoughts  ;  you  may  not  come 
that  road  again  soon.  As  well  as  I  recollect,  you  have 
already  had,  some  twenty  years  since,  a  war  with  the 
New  Testament.    I  must  acknowledge,  that,  in  all  that  is 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


241 


historical,  my  unbelief  in  those  records  is  so  decided,  that 
your  doubts  as  to  a  single  fact  appear  to  me  very  reason- 
able. To  me,  the  Bible  is  only  true  where  it  is  naif ; 
everywhere  else,  where  it  is  written  with  consciousness,  I 
fear  a  design  and  a  later  origin. 

Cellini  I  did  not  receive  early  enough  the  day  before 
yesterday,  to  be  able  to  read  it  entirely  through  before 
sending  it  away  ;  I  have,  however,  been  again  delighted 
with  it,  particularly  with  the  pilgrimage,  which  he  gets 
up  in  his  joy  over  the  achieved  and  song-honored  work. 

Farewell,  and  free  yourself  soon  from  the  affairs  that 
draw  your  mind  off  from  productive  work. 

NA,  14th  April,  1797. 

SCH. 

CCXCI. 

Through  Humboldt  I  have  already  heard  that  your 
Ernest  is  out  of  danger,  and  in  my  mind  have  rejoiced 
thereat ;  now  I  heartily  wish  you  joy  at  his  recovery. 

The  Oratorio,  yesterday,  was  right  well  performed,  and 
I  was  able  to  make  several  observations  on  Historic  Art. 
It  is  a  great  pity  that  we  cannot  enjoy  in  company  such 
opportunities,  for  we  should  then  strengthen  ourselves 
much  quicker  in  the  one  thing  that  is  needful. 

On  Monday  the  first  four  Muses*  depart ;  meanwhile  I 
am  very  busy  with  the  last  five,  and  now  particularly  avail 
myself  of  friend  Humboldt's  prosodiacal  remarks. 

At  the  same  time,  I  have  continued  to  accompany  the 

*  He  refers  to  the  sending  off  for  publication  of  the  first  four  Can- 
tos of  Herrmann  and  Dorothea,  the  nine  Cantos  of  which  are  named 
after  the  Muses. 

11 


242  CORRESPONDEXCE  BETWEEN 

children  of  Israel  in  the  desert,  and,  with  your  principles 
T  can  hope  that  some  of  these  days  my  Essay  on  Moses 
will  find  favor  in  your  eyes.    My  critico-historico-poetic 
work  goes  to  show,  that  the  books  extant  contradict  and 
betray  each  other,  and  my  whole  sport  consists  in  sepa 
rating  the  humanly  probable  from  the  designed  and  the 
merely  imagined,  and  yet  to  discover  everywhere  proofs 
in  support  of  my  opinion.    All  hypothesis  of  this  kind 
misleads  merely  through  the  naturalness  of  the  thought 
and  through  the  manifoldness  of  the  phenomena  on  whic 
it  is  grounded.    It  is  right  well  for  me  to  have  once  more 
for  a  short  time  something  with  which  I  can  with  interest 
in  the  proper  sense  play.    Poetry,  as  for  some  time  pas 
we  have  pursued  it,  is  far  too  earnest  an  occupation 
Fare  you  right  well,  and  rejoice  in  the  beautiful  season. 

Weimar,  15th  April,  1797. 

G. 

CCXCIII. 

I  REJOICE  exceedingly  that  you  are  freed  from  anxiety 
on  account  of  the  child,  and  hope  that  he  will  continue  t 
get  better.    Give  my  kindest  greetings  to  your  dear  wife 

I  am  now  studying  in  great  haste  the  Old  Testamen 
and  Homer ;  I  read  at  the  same  time  Eichhorn's  Intro 
duction  to  the  former,  and  Wolf's  Prolegomena  to  th 
latter.  Some  extraordinary  ideas  spring  up  in  me  on  the 
occasion,  whereupon  we  shall  hereafter  have  much  t 
talk. 

Do  write  as  soon  as  you  can  your  plan  of  Wallenstein 
and  let  me  know  it.  With  my  present  studies,  an  exami 
nation  of  such  a  plan  will  be  very  interesting  to  me,  an 
also  be  of  use  to  you. 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE.  243 

A  thought  on  the  epic  poem  I  will  at  once  communi- 
cate to  you.  As  such  a  poem  ought  to  be  listened  to  in 
the  greatest  repose  and  ease  of  mind,  therefore  the  under- 
standing perhaps  makes  more  demands  on  it  than  on  other 
kinds  of  poetry,  and  I  was  astonished,  on  reading  the 
Odyssey  through  this  time,  to  see  those  very  demands  of 
the  understanding  so  fully  satisfied.  Now,  if  we  con- 
sider with  attention,  what  is  related  of  the  ancient  gram- 
marians and  critics,  as  well  as  of  their  talent  and  charac- 
ter, we  see  plainly  that  they  were  men  of  understanding, 
who  did  not  rest  until  those  great  narrations  harmonized 
with  their  mode  of  conception.  And  thus  are  we,  as  also 
Wolf  endeavors  to  show,  indebted  for  our  present  Homer 
to  the  Alexandrians,  which  no  doubt  gives  to  these  poems 
a  quite  other  aspect. 

One  more  special  remark.  Some  verses  in  Homer, 
which  are  pronounced  to  be  certainly  not  genuine  and 
quite  new,  are  of  the  same  kind  as  some  which  I  myself 
interpolated  into  my  poem,  after  it  was  finished,  in  order 
to  make  the  whole  clearer  and  more  intelligible,  and  to 
prepare  betimes  future  events.  I  am  very  curious  to  see 
what  I  shall  be  inclined  to  add  to  or  to  take  from  my  poem, 
when  I  shall  have  got  through  with  my  present  studies. 

A  chief  quality  of  the  epic  poem  is,  that  it  goes 
always  forward  and  back ;  thence,  all  retarding  sources 
are  epic.  They  must  not,  however,  be  downright  obsta- 
cles ;  these  belong  properly  in  the  Drama. 

Should  this  requisition  of  retardment — which  is  tho- 
roughly fulfilled  by  both  the  Homeric  poems,  and  which 
also  lay  in  the  plan  of  mine — be  really  essential,  and  not 
to  be  dispensed  with,  then  all  plans  that  stride  right  for- 
ward to  the  end  would  be  entirely  to  be  rejected,  or  to  be 


244  CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 

looked  upon  as  a  subordinate  historic  species.  The  pla 
of  my  second  poem  has  this  fault,  if  it  be  one,  and  I  sh' 
take  care  not  to  write  down  so  much  as  a  verse  of  it  unt 
we  have  got  to  a  perfectly  clear  understanding  of  th* 
point.  The  idea  seems  to  me  singularly  fruitful.  If  it 
just,  it  must  bring  us  much  further,  and  I  will  willing! 
sacrifice  everything  to  it. 

With  the  Drama,  it  seems  to  me  to  be  the  reverse  ;  bu 
of  this,  more  the  next  time.  Farewell. 

Weimar,  19th  April,  1797. 

G. 

CCXCIV. 

I  WISHED  to  write  you  many  things  upon  your  last  letter, 
which  has  given  me  much  to  think  of,  but  some  business, 
that  takes  me  away  unexpectedly  this  evening,  prevents 
me.    Therefore  only  a  few  words  for  to-day. 

From  all  that  you  say,  it  becomes  more  and  more  clear 
to  me,  that  the  independent  existence  of  its  parts  forms  a 
chief  characteristic  of  the  epic  poem.  Naked  truth, 
drawn  out  of  the  inmost  sources,  is  the  object  of  the  epic 
poet :  he  depicts  to  us  merely  the  tranquil  existence  and 
working  of  things  according  to  their  natures ;  his  object 
lies  already  in  each  point  of  his  movement ;  therefore  we 
hasten  not  impatiently  to  an  aim,  but  linger  with  affection 
at  every  step.  He  preserves  to  us  the  highest  freedom  of 
the  mind,  and  in  giving  us  this  great  advantage  he  thereby 
renders  his  own  work  the  more  difficult ;  for  we  now 
make  on  him  all  the  demands  that  are  founded  in  the  integ- 
rity and  in  the  all-sided  united  activity  of  our  powers. 
Quite  the  contrary,  the  tragic  poet  robs  us  of  our  mental 
freedom,  and  inasmuch  as  he  directs  and  concentrates  our 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


245 


i  activity  on  one  single  side  he  simplifies  to  himself  very 
:    much  his  work,  and  sets  himself  on  a  vantage-ground, 

while  he  puts  us  at  a  disadvantage. 
Your  idea  of  the  returning  march  of  the  epic  poem  is 

perfectly  clear  to  me.    But  I  do  not  yet  quite  understand, 

from  what  I  know  of  your  Epopee,  that  this  quality  is 

wanting  in  it. 

Your  further  results,  particularly  for  the  Drama,  I  await 
with  great  eagerness.  In  the  meantime  I  will  more  ma- 
turely reflect  on  what  has  been  already  said. 

Farewell.  My  little  patient  continues  to  do  right 
bravely  in  spite  of  the  bad  weather.  My  wife  greets  you 
cordially. 

Jena,  21st  April,  1797. 

SCH. 

ccxcv. 

A  FEW  more  words  on  some  points  of  your  former 
letter. 

Woltmann's  Universal  History  is  verily  an  extraordi- 
nary work.  The  introduction  lies  entirely  out  of  my  circle 
of  vision  ;  of  the  Egyptian  existence  I  cannot  judge,  but 
how  in  the  treatment  of  Jewish  history  he  could  accept 
the  Old  Testament  as  it  stands,  without  the  slightest  com- 
ment, as  a  pure  source  of  events,  is  to  me  incomprehen- 
sible. The  whole  work  is  built  on  sand,  and  is  a  perfect 
prodigy,  when  one  reflects  that  Eichhorn's  Introduction  is 
already  ten  years  old,  and  that  Herder's  works  have  had 
efl'ect  much  longer.    Of  the  unreasonable  opponents  of 

these  ancient  writings  I  will  even  not  so  much  as  speak. 
***** 

I  hope  that  you  may  soon  get  into  your  summer-house, 
and  be  tranquillized  on  all  sides. 


246 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


My  best  greetings  to  your  dear  wife,  as  well  as  to  Hum- 
boldt, to  whom  I  wish  a  speedy  recovery. 

Weimar,  22d  April,  1797. 

G. 

CCXCVI. 

Jena,  25th  April,  1797. 

That  the  demand  for  retardation  results  from  a  higher 
epic  law,  which,  however,  can  be  satisfied  in  another 
manner,  seems  to  me  beyond  doubt.  I  believe  also  that 
there  are  two  modes  of  retarding ;  the  one  consists  in  the' 
nature  of  the  way,  the  other  in  the  manner  of  going  it 
and  this  latter,  it  seems  to  me,  is  perfectly  practicable 
even  where  the  way  is  the  straightest,  and  consequentl 
also  with  a  plan  such  as  yours  is. 

I  should  not,  however,  express  that  higher  epic  law 
altogether  as  you  have  done.    In  the  formula,  that  only 
the  how  and  not  the  what  is  to  be  considered,  it  seems  to 
me  to  be  much  too  general,  and  to  be  applicable  to  all 
pragmatic  kinds  of  poetry  without  distinction.    My  view 
thereupon,  briefly  expressed,  is  this.    Both  the  epic  an 
the  dramatic  poet  represent  to  us  an  action,  only  that  wii 
the  latter  the  action  is  itself  the  object,  with  the  former  ' 
is  a  mere  means  to  an  absolute  aesthetic  object.    Out  o 
this  principle  I  can  fully  explain  to  myself  why  the  tragi 
poet  must  stride  forward  more  rapidly  and  directly,  wh 
the  epic  finds  his  account  more  in  a  loitering  gait.    It  fol 
lows  also  from  this,  as  it  seems  to  me,  that  the  epic  doe 
well  to  abstain  from  such  subjects  as  powerfully  rouse  fo 
themselves  the  feelings,  whether  of  curiosity  or  of  sym 
pathy,  in  which  case,  then,  the  action  interests  too  much 
an  end  to  keep  itself  within  the  bounds  of  a  mere  means 
I  acknowledge  that  I  in  some  measure  fear  this  latter  i 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


247 


voiir  new  poem,  although  I  can  trust  whatever  is  possible 
to  your  poetic  mastery  of  the  subject. 

The  manner  in  which  you  wish  to  develope  your  action 
seems  to  me  to  belong  rather  to  comedy  than  to  the  epos. 
At  least  you  will  have  much  to  do  to  take  from*it  what 
excites  surprise  and  wonder,  because  this  is  not  strictly 
epic. 

I  await  your  plan  with  great  eagerness.  I  am  inclined 
to  have  some  doubt  about  it,  because  it  made  the  same 
impression  on  Humboldt  as  on  me,  notwithstanding  we 
had  previously  had  no  communication  together  in  regard 
to  it.  For  he  thinks  that  the  plan  is  wanting  in  individual 
epic  action.  When  you  first  spoke  to  me  of  it,  I  kept 
waiting  for  the  action  proper  ;  all  that  you  related  to  me 
seemed  to  me  to  be  only  the  introduction  to  such  an  action 
between  a  few  chief  personages,  and  when  I  believed 
that  now  this  action  is  going  to  open,  you  had  finished. 
It  is  true,  I  well  understand  that  the  genus  to  which  the 
subject  belongs  rather  quits  the  individual,  and  obliges  you 
to  go  into  the  collective  and  aim  at  a  whole,  as  the  hero  in 
it  is  after  all  the  understanding,  which  embraces  much 
more  under  it  than  it  contains  in  itself. 

For  the  rest,  be  the  epic  quality  of  your  new  poem 
what  it  may,  it  will,  at  all  events,  compared  with  your 
Herrmann,  be  another  genus,  and  should  therefore  the 
Herrmann  be  a  pure  expression  of  the  epic  genus  and  not 
merely  of  an  epic  species,  it  would  thence  follow  that  the 
new  poem  were  so  much  the  more  epic.  But  that  is  just 
what  you  wanted  to  know,  whether  the  Herrmann  repre- 
sents one  kind  of  epic  or  the  whole  genus,  and  we  there- 
fore come  back  to  the  question. 

I  would  call  your  new  poem  a  comic-epic,  if,  be  it  un- 


248 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


derstood,  we  leave  entirely  out  of  view  the  common  con- 
tracted and  empiric  notion  of  comedy  and  the  comic-heroic 
poem.  Your  new  poem,  it  appears  to  me,  stands  related 
to  comedy  in  about  the  same  degree  that  the  Herrmann 
does  to*tragedy  :  with  this  difference,  that  with  the  latter 
the  relationship  is  more  through  the  subject,  with  the 
former  through  the  treatment. 

But  I  will  first  wait  for  your  plan  in  order  to  say  more 
thereon. 

What  say  you  to  the  news  of  the  Regensburg  peace  ? 
If  you  know  anything  decisive  do  inform  us  of  it. 
Farewell. 

ScH. 

CCXCVM. 

The  news  of  peace  is  true.  Just  as  the  French 
had  re-entered  Frankfort,  and  were  hand  to  hand  with  the 
Austrians,  came  a  courier,  who  brought  the  news  of 
peace  ;  hostilities  immediately  ceased,  and  the  Generals 
on  both  sides  dined  with  the  Burgomaster  in  the  red 
house.  Thus  have  the  people  of  Frankfort  for  their 
money  and  suffering  at  any  rate  witnessed  a  coup  de  theatre, 
the  like  of  which  doesn't  often  occur  in  history,  and  we 
too  shall  have  lived  to  see  this  important  epoch.  We  will 
see  what  will  accrue  to  parts  and  to  the  whole  through  this 
change. 

With  what  you  say  in  your  to-day's  letter  on  the  Dramas 
and  Epos  I  agree  perfectly  ;  just  as  I  am  accustomed 
always  to  have  you  relate  and  explain  to  me  my  dreams. 
I  can  add  nothing  further,  but  I  must  send  you  my  plan  or 
bring  it  myself.  Some  very  subtle  points  will  come  up,  of 
which  just  now  in  general  I  prefer  to  say  nothing.    If  the 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


249 


subject  shall  not  be  adjudged  to  be  purely  epic,  although 
it  is  in  more  than  one  sense  important  and  interesting,  we 
must  be  able  to  discern  in  what  other  form  it  ought  to  be 
handled.  Fare  you  well  ;  enjoy  your  garden  and  the 
recovery  of  your  little  boy. 

With  Humboldt  T  have  passed  the  time  very  agreeably 
and  profitably ;  my  labors  in  Natural  History  have,  by  his 
presence,  been  again  waked  up  out  of  their  winter  sleep  ; 
if  they  only  don't  fall  again  soon  into  a  spring  sleep  ! 

Weimar,  26th  April,  1797. 

G. 

I  cannot,  however,  refrain  from  putting  one  question 
more  about  our  dramatic-epic  affair.  What  say  you  to  the 
following  positions  ? 

In  Tragedy,  Fate,  or  what  is  the  same  thing,  the  deter- 
mined nature  of  man,  which  leads  him  blindly  hither  or 
thither,  can  and  should  rule  and  govern ;  it  must  never 
lead  him  off  to  his  aim,  the  Hero  should  not  become  mas- 
ter of  his  understanding,  the  understanding  ought  not  to 
enter  at  all  into  tragedy,  except  with  subordinate  persona- 
ges, to  the  disadvantage  of  the  chief  hero,  &c. 

In  the  Epos  it  is  directly  the  reverse  ;  merely  the 
understanding,  as  in  the  Odyssey,  or  a  compliant  passion, 
as  in  the  Iliad,  are  epic  agents.  The  voyage  of  the  Argo- 
nauts, as  an  adventure,  is  not  epic. 

CCXCVIII. 

Of  what  you  call  the  best  dramatic  subject  (where, 
namely,  the  exposition  is  itself  a  part  of  the  development) 
there  is,  for  example,  an  instance  in  the  twins  of  Shaks- 
peare.    I  do  not  know  of  a  similar  example  in  tragedy, 

11* 


250 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


although  the  CEdipus  rex  approaches  astonishingly  near  to 
this  ideal.  But  I  can  very  well  conceive  of  dramatic  sub- 
jects in  which  the  exposition  is  at  the  same  time  also 
advancement  of  the  action.  Macbeth  is  of  this  kind ;  I 
can  also  name  the  Robbers. 

To  the  epic  poet  I  would  not  even  allow  an  exposition  ; 
at  least,  not  in  the  sense  of  that  of  the  dramatic.  As  he 
does  not  urge  us  onward  towards  the  end  as  the  dramatic 
poet  does,  therefore  the  beginning  and  the  end  approach 
one  another  much  nearer  in  dignity  and  importance,  and 
the  exposition  must  interest  us,  not  because  it  leads  to 
something,  but  because  itself  is  something.  I  think  that 
in  this  far  more  indulgence  should  be  shown  to  the  dra- 
matic poet ;  for  the  very  reason  that  he  places  his  object 
in  the  sequel  and  at  the  end,  he  may  be  permitted  to  treat 
the  beginning  more  as  a  means.  He  stands  under  the 
category  of  causality,  the  epic  poet  under  that  of  substan- 
tiality ;  with  the  dramatist  one  thing  may  and  should  exist 
as  the  cause  of  some  other  thing,  with  the  epic  writer 
everything  must  make  itself  tell  for  its  own  sake. 

To-morrow  at  last  I  hope  to  take  possession  of  my  gar- 
den. The  little  boy  is  entirely  restored,  and  the  disease, 
it  seems,  has  given  greater  firmness  to  his  health. 

Humboldt  went  to-day  ;  for  several  years  I  shall  not 
see  him  again,  and  it  is  hardly  to  be  expected  that  we 
shall  ever  again  see  one  another  just  as  we  now  are  on 
parting.  So  there  is  again  a  relation  that  is  to  be  looked 
upon  as  closed  and  as  not  to  be  repeated  ;  for  two  years, 
lived  so  differently,  will  change  a  great  deal  in  us,  and 
therefore,  also,  between  us. 

SCH. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


251 


ccxcix. 

Yesterday,  as  I  was  reflecting  on  the  fable  of  my  new 
poem,  in  order  to  write  it  down  for  you,  a  quite  peculiar 
affection  for  this  work  seized  hold  of  me  anew,  which, 
after  all  that  has  in  the  meanwhile  passed  between  us,  is  a 
favorable  indication.  Now  as  I  know  that  I  never  get 
through  with  a  thing  if  I  have  in  any  way  confided  or  dis- 
closed to  anybody  the  plan  of  the  work,  I  prefer  to  with- 
hold for  a  while  this  communication  from  you ;  we  will 
discuss  the  matter  on  general  grounds,  and  I  can  by  my- 
self test  my  subject  by  the  result  of  our  discussion. 
Should  I  continue  to  have  the  courage  and  disposition,  I 
\vould  work  it  out,  and  when  finished,  it  would  give  me 
more  martter  for  reflection  than  in  the  plan ;  should  I  de  - 
spair  of  the  execution,  there  will  always  be  time  to  make 
known  to  you  only  the  idea. 

Have  you  read  Schlegel's  treatise  on  the  epic  poem,  in 
the  eleventh  Number  of  Germany  of  last  year  ?  Do  read 
it.  It  is  singular  how  he,  being  as  a  man  of  good  head  in 
the  right  road,  does  nevertheless  soon  stop  it  up  again  him- 
self. Because  the  epic  poem  cannot  have  dramatic  unity, 
because  such  a  unity  cannot  be  exactly  discovered  in  the 
Iliad  and  Odyssey, — but  they  rather  according  to  the  more 
recent  idea  are  declared  to  be  more  dismembered  than  they 
really  are, — therefore  the  epic  poem  should  neither  have 
nor  require  any  unity  ;  that  is  to  say,  according  to  my  con- 
ception, it  should  cease  to  be  a  poem.  And  these  are  put 
forth  as  clear  views,  which,  in  fact,  are  contradicted  even 
by  experience,  if  one  observes  closely.  For  the  Odyssey 
and  Iliad,  even  though  they  may  have  passed  through  the 
hands  of  a  thousand  poets  and  editors,  show  the  powerful 
tendency  of  poetical  and  critical  nature  towards  unity. 


252 


CORRESPONDENCE 


BETWEEN 


And  after  all  this  new  Schlegelian  performance  is  only  for 
the  benefit  of  the  Wolfian  opinion,  which  does  not  at  all 
require  such  support.  For  because  those  great  poems 
grew  into  being  by  degrees,  and  that  it  has  not  been  possi- 
ble to  bring  them  to  any  full  and  perfect  unity  (although 
both  perhaps  are  far  more  perfectly  organized  than  is 
thought),  therefore  it  does  not  follow  that  such  a  poem  can- 
not and  should  not  in  any  wise  become  full,  perfect  and 
one. 

In  the  meanwhile  I  have  made  out  of  your  letters  a 
short  article  on  our  past  intercommunications  ;  do  go  on 
and  work  the  matter  more  fully  out ;  it  is  to  us,  both  in  a 
theoretical  and  practical  view,  at  the  present  the  most  im- 
portant. * 

I  have  again  read  through,  with  the  greatest  pleasure, 
Aristotle's  Art  of  Poetry  ;  the  Understanding*  is  a  glorious 


*  As  this  term,  used  in  the  same  sense,  occurs  several  times  in  the 
letters,  it  will  be  perhaps  well,  for  the  facility  of  those  who  are  not 
familiar  with  German  thought,  to  explain,  so  far  as  can  be  done  in 
a  few  words,  its  philosophical  meaning.  In  the  German  systems  the 
two  general  divisions  of  the  mind  are  the  Vernunft,  which  we  are 
obliged  to  translate,  although  unsatisfactorily,  by  reason,  and  the 
Verstand,  or  understanding.  The  Vernunft  embraces  all  the 
emotions  of  the  soul,  the  religious,  the  moral  and  the  poetical; 
through  which  alone  in  co-operation  with  the  reasoning  intellect, 
can  the  deepest  truths  be  revealed.  The  Verstand,  or  Under- 
standing, embraces  the  whole  intellect,  unconnected  with,  and  unin- 
spired by  the  emotions,  and  moreover  all  the  lower  or  animal 
nature  of  man.  These  definitions  are  illustrated  by  a  remark  of  j 
Coleridge,  who  says  that  Aristotle  represents  the  Understanding  and , 
Plato  the  pure  Reason.  The  thought  of  Goethe  here  is,  that  such  a' 
manifestation  of  the  Understanding  as  is  made  in  this  work  of  Aris- ' 
totle  is  a  very  high,  though  not  the  highest  exhibition  of  human 
powers. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


253 


thing  in  its  highest  manifestation.  It  is  very  remarkable 
how  Aristotle  relies  merely  on  experience,  and  there- 
by, if  you  choose,  becomes  a  little  too  natural  ;  but 
therefore,  also,  appears  mostly  so  much  the  more  solid.  It 
was  also  very  refreshing  to  me  to  read  with  what  liberality 
he  takes  the  poets  under  his  protection  against  the  imper- 
tinent and  captious,  insists  only  on  what  is  essential,  and 
in  everything  else  is  so  lax  that  I  have  been  astonished  at 
more  than  one  passage.  His  whole  view  of  the  art  of 
poetry,  and  particularly  of  those  departments  to  which  he 
is  partial,  is  so  animating  that  I  shall  ere  long  take  him 
in  hand  again,  especially  on  account  of  some  important 
passages  which  are  not  quite  clear,  and  the  meaning  of 
which  I  Should  like  to  search  out.  One  finds,  however, 
no  explanation  about  the  epic  poem  in  the  sense  in  which 
we  wish  it. 

I  am  recruiting  myself  at  present  from  the  disturbing 
occupations  of  the  past  month,  and  am  putting  various 
matters  of  business  into  order,  or  on  one  side,  so  that  I 
may  have  the  month  of  May  free.  If  it  is  possible  to  me 
I  will  visit  you.    In  the  meanwhile  fare  you  well. 

Weimar,  28th  April,  1797. 

G. 

ccc. 

Just  as  I  had  set  myself  down  in  the  evening  to  answer 
your  two  dear  letters,  I  was  interrupted  by  a  visit  from  the 
Prince  of  Rudolstadt,  who  is  here  on  account  of  the 
inoculation  of  his  children,  and  as  soon  as  I  got  rid  of  this, 
I  had  a  visit  from  the  Humboldts.  It  is  now  ten  o'clock 
at  night,  and  I  can  merely  send  you  a  friendly  greeting. 
Sunday  evening  more.  Farewell. 

Jena,  28th  April,  1797. 

ScH. 


254 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


CCCI. 

Jena  ,2d  May,  1797. 

I  SALUTE  you  from  my  garden,  which  I  got  into  to-day. 
Around  me  is  a  beautiful  landscape,  the  sun  is  setting  with 
a  friendly  look,  and  the  nightingales  are  singing.  Every- 
thing about  me  gladdens  me,  and  my  first  evening  on  my 
own  ground  is  of  the  happiest  omen. 

This  is,  however,  all  that  I  can  write  to-day,  for  my 
head  is  distracted  with  arranging  things.  To-morrow  I 
hope  to  go  again  to  work  with  hearty  good  will,  and  to 
keep  at  it. 

If  you  would  send  me  the  text  of  Don  Juan  for  a  few 
days,  you  would  do  me  a  favor.  I  have  the  idea  to  make 
a  ballad  out  of  it,  and  as  I  am  only  acquainted  ^ith  the 
tale  by  hearsay,  I  should  like  to  know  how  it  is  treated. 

Fare  you  well.  I  heartily  rejoice  in  the  prospect  of 
soon  again  passing  some  time  with  you. 

ScH. 

CCCIII. 

I  SEND  you  the  second  part  of  Vieilleville  and  the  Don 
Juan  you  request.  The  thought  to  make  a  ballad  out  of 
it  is  very  happy.  The  universally  known  story,  placed  in 
a  new  light  through  a  poetic  treatment,  such  as  you  have 
at  command,  will  have  a  good  effect. 

I  wish  you  joy  of  the  new  dwelling,  and  will  hasten  to 
visit  you  in  it  as  soon  as  possible. 

I  send  you  also  Aristotle,  wish  you  much  pleasure  from 
it,  and  say  no  more  for  to-day. 

G. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


255 


CCCVI. 

I  AM  very  well  satisfied  with  Aristotle,  and  not  only 
with  him,  but  also  with  myself ;  it  does  not  often  happen 
that  one  does  not  lose  one's  inward  peace  after  reading 
such  a  sober  head  and  cold  lawgiver.  Aristotle  is  a  real 
Minos  to  all  those  w^ho  either  adhere  slavishly  to  outward 
form,  or  who  set  themselves  above  all  form.  The  first  he 
must  drive  into  constant  contradictions  through  his  vita- 
lity and  spirit,  for  it  is  obvious  how  much  more  impor- 
tance he  attaches  to  the  essence  than  to  all  outward  form  ; 
and  to  the  latter  the  severity  must  be  frightful  with  which 
he  derives  from  the  nature  of  the  poem,  and  particularly 
of  tragedy,  its  immutable  form.  Now  for  the  first  time,  I 
undersfand  in  what  a  wretched  plight  he  has  put  the 
French  expounders,  and  poets,  and  critics  ;  and  they  have 
always  been  afraid  of  him  as  children  of  the  rod.  Shak- 
speare,  much  as  he  has  sinned  against  him,  would  fare  far 
better  with  him  than  the  whole  French  Tragedy. 

I  am,  however,  very  glad  that  I  have  not  read  him 
earlier ;  I  should  have  missed  a  great  pleasure  and  all  the 
advantages  which  he  now  affords  me.  One  must  under- 
stand very  clearly  the  fundamental  ideas,  if  one  would 
read  him  with  profit :  if  one  does  not  know  well  before- 
hand the  subject  of  \vhich  he  treats,  it  must  be  dangerous 
to  take  counsel  of  him. 

It  is  certain,  however,  that  he  can  never  be  entirely  un- 
derstood or  appreciated.  His  whole  view  of  tragedy  rests 
on  empiric  grounds.  He  has  a  quantity  of  represented 
tragedies  before  his  eyes,  which  we  no  longer  have  before 
ours  ;  he  reasons  from  his  experience,  and  to  us  is  want- 
ing nearly  the  whole  basis  of  his  judgment.  Nowhere 
scarcely  does  he  start  from  the  idea  of  art,  always  only 


256 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


from  the  fact  of  art,  and  of  the  poet,  and  the  representa- 
tion ;  and  if  his  judgments  are  in  essentials  genuine  laws 
of  art,  we  owe  this  to  the  happy  accident  that  there  were 
at  that  period  works  of  art,  which  realized  an  idea  through 
the  fact  of  their  existence,  and  made  manifest  their  genus 
in  an  individual  case. 

If  in  him  one  looks  for  a  philosophy  of  poetry,  such  as 
we  now  have  a  right  to  require  of  a  modern  aesthetic 
writer,  one  will  not  merely  be  deceived,  but  will  moreover 
have  to  laugh  at  his  rhapsodical  manner,  and  at  the  extra- 
ordinary mixing  up  together  of  general  and  most  minute 
rules  of  logical,  prosodiacal,  rhetorical,  and  poetical  propo- 
sitions ;  as,  for  example,  when  he  goes  back  even  to  the 
vowels  and  consonants.  But  if  one  reflects  that  he  had 
before  him  an  individual  tragedy,  and  that  he  scrutinized 
every  point  that  presented  itself  in  it,  then  everything  is 
easily  explained,  and  one  is  very  glad  to  recapitulate  on 
such  an  occasion,  all  the  elements  of  which  a  poetic  work 
is  composed. 

I  am  not  at  all  surprised  that  he  gives  to  tragedy  the 
preference  over  the  epic  poem  :  he  does  not  mean  to  de- 
tract from  the  essential  and  poetic  worth  of  the  Epopee, 
although  he  does  not  express  himself  altogether  without 
ambiguity.  As  judge  and  aesthetic  critic,  he  must  be 
better  satisfied  with  that  species  which  is  embodied  in  a 
permanent  form,  and  in  regard  to  which  a  judgment  can 
be  agreed  on.  Now  this  is  evidently  the  case  in  tragedy, 
as  he  had  it  before  him  in  models,  while  the  more  simple 
and  definite  business  of  the  dramatic  poet  can  be  far  more 
easily  understood  and  declared,  and  presents  to  the  under- 
standing a  more  complete  technical  system,  on  account  of 
the  shorter  study  and  the  lesser  breadth.    In  addition  to 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


257 


this,  it  is  plain  that  his  preference  for  tragedy  pro- 
ceeds from  a  clearer  insight  into  it  ;  that  strictly  speaking 
he  is  acquainted  only  with  the  generic-poetic  laws  of  the 
Epopee,  which  it  has  in  common  with  tragedy,  and  not 
with  the  specific  ones,  through  which  it  is  opposed  to 
tragedy  ;  thence  also  he  felt  authorized  to  say,  that  the 
Epopee  is  contained  in  tragedy,  and  that  he  who  knows 
how  to  judge  of  the  latter,  can  also  decide  on  the  former  ; 
for  the  universal  pragmatic-poetical  of  the  Epopee  is  in- 
deed contained  in  tragedy. 

There  are  many  apparent  contradictions  in  this  treatise, 
which,  however,  impart  to  it  a  higher  value  in  my  eyes  ; 
for  they  give  me  assurance  that  the  whole  consists  only 
of  isolated  views,  and  that  no  theoretic  preconceived  ideas 
are  involved  in  it :  much,  no  doubt,  may  also  be  ascribed 
to  the  translator. 

I  shall  be  glad  when  you  are  here,  to  talk  over  this 
work  with  you  more  in  detail. 

That  in  tragedy  he  lays  the  chief  weight  on  the  con- 
catenation of  the  incidents,  is  striking  the  nail  right  on  the 
head. 

The  manner  in  which  he  compares  poetry  and  history 
together,  and  accords  to  the  former  a  greater  truth  than  to 
the  latter,  pleased  me  exceedingly  from  a  man  in  whom 
the  understanding  is  so  predominant. 

It  is  also  very  clever  where  he  remarks,  on  occasion  of 
what  he  says  of  opinions,  that  the  old  poets  made  their 
personages  speak  more  politically,  the  later  ones  more 
rhetorically. 

What  he  says  in  favor  of  real  historic  names  for  dra- 
matic characters,  is  likewise  very  judicious. 

That  he  was  so  very  partial  to  Euripides,  as  he  has 


258 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


been  charged  with,  I  have  by  no  means  found.  In  general 
I  find,  after  now  reading  myself  his  Poetics,  how  mon- 
strously he  has  been  misunderstood. 

I  send  you  herewith  a  letter  from  Voss,  which  has  just 
arrived  enclosed  to  me.  He  sends  me  also  an  hexame- 
trical  translation  of  Ovid's  Phaeton,  for  the  Horcn,  which 
in  my  great  distress  arrives  very  opportunely.  He  him- 
self will  not  visit  Weimar  and  Jena  on  his  journey. 

As  regards  the  map  to  your  Essay  on  Moses,  we  will, 
if  you  have  no  objection,  appropriate  what  shall  be 
received  for  the  Lenzian  Treatise, — which  I  am  having 
inserted  in  the  fifth  number, — to  defraying  the  cost  of  the 
map.    I  promised  Cotta  that  no  one  sheet  should  cost 

more  than   louis  d'or ;  else  he  would  not  have  been 

well  able  to  continue  the  Horen.  In  this  way,  however, 
it  will  answer  very  well.  Do  you  provide  only  that  we 
be  able  to  have  the  Moses  and  also  the  plate  printed  soon. 

Does  the  Aristotle  belong  to  you  ?  If  not,  I  will  order  it 
at  once,  for  I  should  not  like  to  part  with  it  so  soon. 

I  send  new  Horen;  also  Don  Juan,  with  thanks.  I 
think  the  subject  is  quite  well  suited  to  a  ballad. 

Farewell.  I  have  already  got  quite  accustomed  to  the 
new  mode  of  life,  and  pass  many  an  hour  in  wind  and 
rain,  in  walking  in  the  garden,  and  find  myself  well 
for  it. 

Jena,  5th  March,  1797. 

SCH. 

cccv. 

I  AM  very  glad  that  we  have  hit  upon  Aristotle  just  at 
the  right  hour.  A  book  is  only  then  found  when  it  is 
understood.    I  recollect  very  well  to  have  read  this  trans- 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE 


259 


lation  thirty  years  ago,  but  of  the  meaning  of  the  work  I 
then  comprehended  nothing  at  alL  I  hope  soon  that  wc 
shall  discuss  it  together  more  fully.  This  copy  is  not 
mine. 

Voss  has  written  me  a  very  pleasant  letter,  and  an- 
nounces to  me  his  labors  upon  ancient  geography,  which 
I  am  very  curious  to  see. 

Both  the  letter  and  the  envelope  promise  a  couple  of 
Homeric  maps,  which,  however,  I  haven't  received  ;  per- 
haps they  are  with  the  O vidian  Metamorphoses. 

Latterly,  when  I  have  again  made  frequent  use  of  his 
Homeric  translation,  I  could  not  but  admire  and  honor  its 
great  merit.  A  thought  has  occurred  to  me  whereby  jus- 
tice might  be  done  him  in  a  liberal  way,  and  at  the  same 
time  not  without  vexing  his  assailants.  We  will  talk  of 
this. 

I  am  quite  willing  that  we  apply  the  profits  of  Lenz's 
Mummy  to  the  Map  of  Palestine.  But  I  wish  to  pause 
for  a  moment  yet,  until  I  see  whether  my  Moses  will  really 
be  ready.  Until  now  I  had  got  the  idea  of  Italy  almost 
entirely  out  of  my  mind ;  now,  however,  that  the  hope  of 
visiting  it  once  more  is  revived,  I  see  how  necessary  it 
is  to  take  my  collection*  in  hand  again,  to  put  in  order 
and  to  plan. 

On  the  15th  I  think  I  shall  be  with  you  again,  and  to 
remain  some  time  ;  I  am  to-day  still  quite  out  of  tune,  from 
a  week  of  distractions.  Farewell,  and  eiijoy  the  free  air 
and  the  solitude. 

Weimar,  6th  May,  1797. 

G. 

*  He  refers  probably  to  the  manuscripts  of  his  former  travels  in 
Italy. 


260 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


CCCVIII. 

*#***#*# 

Have  you  read  Schlegel's  critique  on  Schlosser  ?  It  is 
to  be  sure,  in  its  fundamental  principles,  not  untrue,  but  the 
evil  intent  and  party  spirit  are  much  too  apparent  in  it. 
This  Mr.  Frederick  Schlegel  is  really  getting  too  bad. 
He  lately  told  Humboldt  that  he  had  reviewed  Agnes  in 
the  journal  Germany,  and  very  severely  too.  But  that 
now,  since  he  hears  it  is  not  by  you,  he  regrets  that  he 
handled  it  so  roughly.  So  the  coxcomb  thinks  it  his  duty 
to  take  care  that  your  taste  fall  not  off.  And  this  impru 
dence  is  coupled  with  such  ignorance  and  shallowness 
that  he  really  took  Agnes  to  be  your  work. 

The  gossip  about  the  Xenia  continues  ;  I  am  constantly 
meeting  with  a  new  title  of  a  book,  wherein  an  essay  or 
something  similar  is  announced  against  the  Xenia.  Latel 
I  found  in  a  journal,  called  "  Annals  of  Suffering  Hu 
manity,"  an  article  against  them. 

I  beg  you  not  to  forget  the  conclusion  of  Cellini,  and 
perhaps,  in  rummaging  among  your  papers,  something  else 
will  fall  into  your  hands  for  the  Horen,  or  for  the  Al 
manac. 

Farewell.    My  wife  sends  her  best  regards. 

Jena,  16th  May,  1797. 

SCH. 

CCCIX. 

1  AM  sorry  that  you  have  to  endure  the  evil  of  building. 
It  is  a  great  annoyance,  and  withal  an  attractive  pastime 
to  have  mechanics  at  work  in  one's  neighborhood.  I  hop 
that  this  event  may  not  disturb  you  too  much. 

*  Schiller,  in  the  omitted  part  of  the  last  letter,  had  told  him  of 
repairs  he  was  having  made  in  his  house. 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


261 


I  am  trying  to  put  things  in  order  as  much  as  possible, 
that  I  may  earn  a  few  perfectly  free  weeks,  and  if  possible 
get  a  mood  for  the  conclusion  of  my  poem.  Of  the  rest  of 
the  dear  German  literature,  I  have  taken  leave  once  for 
all.  In  almost  every  case  opinions  of  a  work  are  deter- 
mined by  the  good  or  evil  disposition  towards  the  person 
of  the  author,  and  the  nonsense  of  party  spirit  is  more  dis- 
tasteful to  me  than  any  other  caricature. 

Since  the  hope  of  again  seeing  the  promised,  though  at 
present  so  mal-treated  land,  has  revived  in  me,  I  am  friends 
with  all  the  world,  and  more  than  ever  convinced,  that  in 
the  theoretical  and  practical,  and  particularly  in  our  case, 
in  the  scientific  and  poetical,  one  should  seek  to  get  more 
and  more  in  harmony  with  oneself,  and  so  to  remain.  For 
the  rest,  let  all  things  go  as  they  can. 

Let  us,  so  long  as  we  remain  together,  bring  our  two 
beings  more  and  more  into  unison,  so  that  even  a  longer 
separation  be  not  able  to  injure  our  relation  to  one  an- 
other. 

The  conclusion  of  Cellini  I  will  take  in  hand  the  first 
thing  in  Jena ;  perhaps  something  else  also  may  turn  up, 
and  perhaps  Moses  will  be  quickened  again  through  our 
conversation.  Fare  you  right  well ;  greet  your  dear  wife, 
and  enjoy  the  fresh  air,  which,  sooner  or  later,  will  attune 
your  mind.  ' 

Weimar,  17th  May,  1797. 

G. 


262 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


CCCXI.* 

This  is  a  fine  day  for  gathering  up  one's  faculties,  and 
it  invites  to  work.  Moses,  as  you  have  taken  him,  is 
really  not  so  unlike  Cellini,  but  the  parallel  will  be  thought 
abominable. 

Here  is  the  account.  I  would  rather  give  you  the 
money  myself,  the  sum  is  too  large.  Farewell. 

SCH. 

CCCXVII. 

Unto  the  Lord,  in  desert  blight, 

Satan  a  pebble  brought, 

And  said  :  0  Lord,  now  through  thy  might. 

To  bread  let  it  be  wrought. 

Of  many  stones,  here  gives  thy  friend 
To  thee  a  sample  piece  ; 
For  which  ideas  back  thou'lt  send 
With  thousand  fold  increase. 
Jena,  13th  June,  1797. 

G. 

CCCXVlll. 

I  SEND  the  small  remnant  of  Cellini  and  the  Flower- 
Girl,  and  beg  in  return  the  lady  Des  Belles  Cousines,  for 
which,  I  don't  know  why,  I  have  a  particular  fancy.  At 
the  same  time,  also,  Ihe  Almanac,  which  contains  the 
Dignity  of  Women,]  for  an  object  that  it  would  be  hard  for 
you  to  guess. 

*  Goethe  was  now  for  some  weeks  in  Jena.  The  correspond- 
ence, during  this  period,  consists  of  short  notes,  nearly  all  from 
Goethe,  relating  mostly  to  the  interchange  of  MS.  poems,  articles 
for  the  Journal,  &c.    I  give  only  two  or  three  of  them. 

t  A  poem  of  Schiller's 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


263 


The  barometer  continues  low,  and  obliges  us  to  seek 
our  enjoyment  within  doors,  and  within  ourselves.  I 
shall  come  this  afternoon,  only  for  a  short  time,  because  I 
cannot  this  evening,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  take  the  bright 
supper  with  you. 

Jena,  13th  June,  1797. 

G. 

CCCXXI. 

Jena,  18th  June,  1797. 

Since  your  absence,  I  have  already  a  foretaste  of  the 
great  loneliness  into  which  your  complete  departure  will 
transplant  me.  Fortunately,  the  weather  favors  me  just 
now,  and  I  can  live  in  the  free  air.  In  the  meantime,  I 
have  been  at  work  at  Vieilleville,  for  time  passes  ;  I  have, 
notwithstanding,  poetised  a  little :  a  small  afterpiece  to 
the  Diver,  to  which  I  have  been  incited  by  an  anecdote  in 
S.  Foix^  Essai  sur  Paris. 

I  now  look  forward  with  hearty  gladness  to  a  poetic 
activity,  and  hope  in  the  two  next  months  to  bring  some- 
thing to  pass. 

The  determining  whether  you  shall  go  further  than 
Switzerland,  is  important  to  me  also,  and  I  await  it  with 
impatience.  The  greater  the  number  of  the  connexions  that 
I  no  longer  keep  up,  the  greater  the  influence  upon  me  of 
the  few  that  are  left,  and  your  living  presence  has  the 
most  decided.  The  last  four  weeks  have  again  helped  to 
build  up,  and  to  found  much  in  me.  You  draw  me  off 
more  and  more  from  the  tendency  (which  in  everything 
practical,  and  especially  in  the  poetical,  is  a  perverseness) 
to  go  from  the  general  to  the  individual,  and  you  lead  me, 
on  the  contrary,  from  single  cases  to  great  laws.  The 
point  is  always  small  and  narrow  from  which  you  are 


264 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


accustomed  to  set  out,  but  it  leads  me  into  broad  regions, 
and  thereby  does  my  inmost  nature  good  ;  whereas,  in  the 
path,  which,  when  left  to  myself,  I  so  readily  follow,  I 
always  come  from  the  broad  into  the  narrow,  and  have 
the  unpleasant  feeling,  to  find  myself  at  the  end  poorer 
than  at  the  beginning. 

Of  Humboldt,  I  have  still  no  news  ;  he  appears  to  be 
not  yet  arrived  in  Dresden,  because  Körner  could  give  me 
no  information  about  him. 

This  evening,  my  wife  went  with  Wolzogen,  who  was 
here,  to  Weimar,  for  a  few  days.  Vieilleville  keeps  me 
tied  down. 

Don't  forget  to  send  me  the  chorus  of  Prometheus. 
Farewell.    I  long  to  hear  soon  from  you  again. 

ScH. 

CCCXXI.(a) 

On  a  rainy  day  like  this  it  must  look  lonely  in  your 
castle  ;  however,  a  wide  prospect  whose  landand  sky  pre- 
sent such  variety  of  aspects,  has  more  value  than  is  be- 
lieved by  those  who  enjoy  it  every  day. 

I  wish  you  in  this  confinement  from  without  good  pro- 
gress in  your  labors. 

The  Glove  is  a  very  happy  subject,  and  the  execution 
successful ;  we  will,  in  future,  at  once  avail  ourselves  of 
subjects  of  this  kind  that  occur  to  us.  Here  we  have  the 
perfectly  bare  fact,  without  design,  or  rather  with  an  oppo- 
site design,  which  pleases  so  particularly. 

Within  these  few  days  I  have  taken  hold  of  several 
things,  but  have  done  nothing.  I  have  improved  and  filled 
out  the  plan  for  the  history  of  Peter's  Church,  and  this 
work,  as  well  as  Moses,  and  others,  will,  by  degrees,  grow 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


265 


ripe.  The  present  time — which,  in  the  uncertainty  where- 
in I  float,  cannot  nourish  a  sustained  interest — I  must 
make  use  of  as  well  as  I  can,  until  I  am  again  led  back  to 
some  unity. 

I  cannot  find  the  chorus  out  of  Prometheus,  nor  can  I 
recollect  that  I  had  it  back  from  Humboldt,  wherefore  I 
thought  it  was  in  your  hands.  At  all  events,  Madame 
Humboldt  took  a  copy  of  it,  and  it  will  be  easy  therefore 
to  get  it  from  Dresden. 

The  day  before  yesterday  I  paid  a  visit  to  Wieland, 
who  lives  in  a  very  neat,  roomy  and  comfortably  arranged 
house,  in  the  dreariest  region  in  the  world  ;  the  road  to  it 
is  moreover  generally  very  bad.  It  is  fortunate  that  each 
man  has  only  to  provide  that  his  own  condition  be  com- 
fortable ;  I  wish  that  the  good  old  man's  may  never  cease 
to  be  so  to  him.  The  worst  really  is,  according  to  my 
idea,  that  in  rainy  weather  and  short  days  all  communica- 
tion with  other  people  is  out  of  the  question. 

My  situation,  which  rocks  to  and  fro,  between  near  and 
far,  between  a  great  and  a  small  expedition,  has  in  it  at 
this  moment  little  that  is  agreeable,  and  I  shall  be  obliged 
to  continue  thus  for  some  weeks  yet.  If  I  bring  our  good 
friend  Meyer  back  again  by  Michaelmas,  our  winter  life 
will  then  take  a  good  course.  In  the  last  four  weeks  we 
have,  both  theoretically  and  practically,  again  made  excel- 
lent progress  ;  and  if  my  nature  has  the  effect  of  drawing 
yours  into  the  finite,  I,  on  the  other  hand,  have  the  advantage 
that  I  am  often  through  you  drawn  beyond  my  limits,  at 
least  that  I  don't  circle  round  so  long  on  so  narrow  a  spot. 
If  now  the  old  master*  joins  us,  who  gives  me  the  benefit 
of  the  wealth  of  a  foreign  Art,  there  will  surely  be  no  want 


*  Meyer. 
12 


2G6 


CORRESPONDF,N-CE  BETWEEN 


of  good  influences.  I  send  back  the  Glove,  which  makes 
truly  a  pretty  afterpiece  and  counterpart  to  the  Diver,  and 
through  its  own  merit  enhances  the  merit  of  that  poem. 
Farewell,  and  let  me  hear  from  you  soon. 

Weimar,  21st  June,  1797. 

G. 

CCCXXII. 

As  it  is  highly  necessary  that  I  give  myself  something 
to  do,  in  my  present  unsettled  state,  I  have  determined  to 
go  at  my  Faust,  in  order,  if  not  to  finish  it,  yet  at  least  to 
carry  it  forward  a  good  way,  and  for  this  I  will  break  up 
what  is  printed  and  arrange  it  in  large  masses  in  connec- 
tion with  what  is  already  finished  or  invented,  and  thus 
more  fully  prepare  for  the  execution  of  the  plan,  which 
strictly  is  as  yet  only  an  idea.  Now  I  have  just  taken  up 
again  this  idea  and  its  exposition,  and  am  tolerably  at  one 
with  myself  in  regard  to  it.  Now  I  would  wish  that  you 
would  have  the  goodness  to  revolve  the  matter  in  your 
mind  some  sleepless  night,  lay  before  me  the  requisitions 
that  you  would  make  on  the  whole,  and  thus  relate  and 
interpret  to  me,  like  a  true  prophet,  my  own  dreams. 

As  the  difierent  parts  of  this  poem,  in  what  relates  to 
their  mood,  can  be  treated  diflferently,  provided  only  that 
they  be  kept  subordinate  to  the  spirit  and  tone  of  the 
whole  ;  as,  moreover,  the  entire  work  is  subjective,  I  can 
therefore  work  at  it  in  odd  moments,  and  thus  I  am  able  to 
accomplish  something  now. 

Our  ballad  studies  have  brought  me  again  into  this 
misty  and  cloudy  road,  and  circumstances  counsel  me,  in 
more  than  one  sense,  to  rove  about  in  it  for  a  while. 

What  is  interesting  in  my  new  epic  plan,  will  perhaps 
vanish  into  the  air  in  such  a  mist  of  rhyme  and  strophe. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


2G7 


For  to-day  fare  you  well.  Carl  enjoyed  himself  yes- 
terday in  my  garden,  notwithstanding  the  bad  weather. 
Had  your  dear  wife  remained  here  it  would  have  given 
me  pleasure  to  see  her  and  her  friends  at  my  house  this 
evening.  If  you  could  but  make  up  your  mind  to  measure 
once  more  the  Jena  road.  I  would,  however,  wish  you 
better  weather  for  such  an  expedition. 

Weimar,  22d  June,  1797. 

G. 

CCCXXIII. 

Jena,  23d  June,  1797. 

Your  determination  to  go  at  Faust  has  indeed  surprised 
me,  particularly  now,  when  you  are  girding  yourself  for  a 
journey  to  Italy.  But  I  have  once  for  all  given  up  mea- 
suring you  with  common  logic,  and  am  thence  convinced 
beforehand  that  your  genius  will  see  you  well  through 
with  the  undertaking. 

Your  request  to  me  to  communicate  to  you  my  expecta- 
tions and  desideria,  is  not  so  easy  to  fulfil ;  but  so  far  as  I 
can,  I  will  try  to  discover  your  thread,  and  if  that  is  not 
possible,  I  will  figure  to  myself  that  I  had  accidentally 
found  the  fragments  of  Faust,  and  had  to  complete  them. 
Thus  much  only  will  I  here  remark,  that  your  Faust  can- 
not, with  all  his  poetic  individuality,  entirely  ward  off  the 
demand  for  a  symbolic  significance,  as  is  probably  your 
own  idea.  The  duality  of  human  nature,  and  the  abortive 
endeavor  to  unite  in  man  the  godlike  and  the  physical, 
one  does  not  lose  sight  of ;  and  because  the  fable  runs  and 
must  run  into  the  fantastic  and  formless,  people  will  not 
stop  with  the  subject,  but  will  be  led  from  it  to  ideas.  In 
short,  the  demands  on  Faust  are  at  the  same  time  philo- 
sophical and  poetical,  and  you  may  turn  yourself  as  you 


268 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


will,  the  nature  of  the  subject  will  impose  on  you  a  philo- 
sophical treatment,  and  the  imagination  must  accommodate 
itself  to  the  service  of  a  philosophical  idea. 

But  herewith  I  am  not  telling  you  anything  new,  for  in 
what  is  already  done  you  have  begun  to  satisfy  this  de- 
mand in  a  high  degree. 

If  you  now  really  take  up  Faust,  I  shall  have  no  further 
doubt  of  its  complete  execution,  at  which  I  am  much  re- 
joiced. 

My  wife,  who  brings  me  your  letter,  and  has  just  re- 
turned from  her  short  journey  with  Mr.  Carl,  prevents  me 
from  writing  more  to-day.  On  Monday,  I  think  I  shall 
send  you  a  new  ballad ;  the  present  is  a  fruitful  time  for 
the  bringing  forth  of  ideas. 

Farewell. 

ScH.  I 

CCCXXIV.  ^ 

Thanks  for  your  first  words  on  the  reanimated  Faust. 
We  shall  not  differ  in  our  view  of  this  production,  but  it  at 
once  puts  one  in  a  quite  other  mood  for  work,  when  one 
sees  his  thoughts  and  purposes  indicated  from  without, 
and  your  sympathy  is  fruitful  in  more  than  one  sense. 

That  I  have  attacked  this  work  at  present  is  in  fact  a 
matter  of  foresight;  for  as  with  Meyer's  state  of  health,  I 
must  still  look  to  passing  the  winter  here  in  the  north,  I 
don't  wish  to  become  burdensome  to  myself  and  my 
friends  through  chagrin  at  a  disappointed  hope,  and  there- 
fore with  joy  and  love  I  prepare  for  myself  beforehand  a 
retreat  into  this  symbolical,  ideal,  and  cloudy  world. 

I  will  first  endeavor  to  finish  the  large  masses  that  are 
already  invented  and  half-wrought,  and  combine  them  with 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


269 


what  is  printed,  and  keep  at  it  until  the  circle  exhausts 
itself. 

Farewell ;  go  on  giving  me  your  thoughts  about  the 
subject  and  the  treatment,  and  don't  fail  to  send  me  the 
ballad. 

Weimar,  24th  June,  1797. 

G. 

cccxxv. 

Jena,  27ih  June,  1797. 

Herewith  are  two  poems,  which  were  sent  in  yester- 
day for  the  Almanac.  Do  examine  them  and  tell  me  in  a 
few  words  what  impression  they  make  on  you  and  what 
you  expect  of  their  author.  Of  products  in  this  style,  I 
cannot  judge  well,  and  precisely  in  the  present  instance,  I 
would  wish  to  see  very  clearly  ;  because  my  counsel  and 
hints  will  have  influence  with  the  author. 

Fare  you  right  well.  The  weather  is  here  unfriendly, 
and  it  rains,  neither  has  to-day  brought  forth  much. 

SCH. 

CCCXXVI. 

The  "  Ring  of  Polycrates"*  is  very  well  executed. 
The  royal  friend,  before  whose  eyes,  as  before  those  of  the 
listener,  everything  happens,  and  the  conclusion  which 
leaves  the  development  in  suspense,  is  all  very  good.  I 
wish  that  my  counterpart  piece  may  turn  out  as  well. 
Your  remarks  on  Faust  gave  me  much  pleasure ;  they 
agree  very  well,  as  was  natural,  with  my  purposes  and 
plans,  only  that  I  take  it  easier  with  this  barbaric  compo- 
sition, and  design  rather  to  becalm  than  to  satisfy  the  high- 


*  A  poem  of  Schiller's. 


270 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


est  demands.  Thus  the  understanding  and  the  reason, 
like  two  boxers,  strike  away  very  ferociously  at  each 
other,  to  lie  down  amicably  together  in  the  evening.  I 
will  take  care  that  the  parts  be  graceful  and  interesting, 
and  give  occasion  to  thought ;  with  the  whole,  which  will 
always  remain  a  fragment,  the  new  theory  of  the  epic 
poem  may  stand  me  in  stead. 

The  barometer  is  in  constant  motion  ;  at  this  season  we 
cannot  count  on  steady  weather.  One  does  not  feel  this 
inconvenience  until  one  makes  demands  on  a  pure  exist- 
ence in  the  free  air ;  the  Autumn  is  always  our  best  time. 

Fare  you  right  well,  and  go  on  making  diligent  provi- 
sion for  your  Almanac.  As  through  my  Faust,  I  continue 
in  the  world  of  rhyme,  I  shall  also,  I  am  sure,  furnish 
something  more.  It  seems  to  me  to  be  now  settled  that 
this  is  the  form  best  suited  to  my  tigers  and  lions  ;  I  am 
only  almost  afraid  that  what  is  really  interesting  in  the 
subject  may  at  last  resolve  itself  into  a  ballad.  We  must 
wait  to  see  on  what  shore  the  Genius  will  drive  the  little 
vessel. 

The  Ring  I  will  send  on  Wednesday  by  the  carrier- 
woman. 

Weimar,  27th  June,  1797. 

G. 

CCCXXVII. 

Jena,  26th  June,  1797. 
******** 

I  HAVE  now  again  read  Faust,  and  my  head  grows 
dizzy  in  thinking  on  the  solution.  This  is,  however,  quite 
natural,  for  the  matter  depends  on  a  particular  point  of 
view,  and  so  long  as  one  has  not  that,  even  a  subject  less 
rich  than  this  would  embarrass  the  understanding.  What 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


271 


concerns  me  is,  that,  from  his  character,  Faust  seems  to 
require  a  totality  of  material,  if  in  the  end  the  idea  is  to 
appear  completely  carried  out,  and  for  a  mass  that  boils 
up  to  such  a  height  I  know  of  no  poetic  rope  that  will 
hold  it  together.  Well,  you  will  know  how  to  get  out  of 
the  difficulty. 

For  example,  it  would  be  necessary,  according  to  my 
view,  that  Faust  be  conducted  into  practical  life,  and  what- 
ever part  you  select  for  him  out  of  this  mass,  it  seems  to 
me  that,  from  its  nature,  it  will  require  a  too  great  circum- 
stantiality and  breadth. 

In  regard  to  the  treatment,  I  think  the  great  difficulty  is 
easy  to  get  through  with  between  sport  and  earnest.  Un- 
derstanding and  Reason  seem  to  me  in  this  subject  to 
wrestle  together  for  life.  In  tiie  present  fragmentary  form 
of  Faust,  this  is  strongly  felt,  but  expectation  is  referred 
to  the  developed  whole.  The  Devil,  through  his  material- 
ism, pleads  for  the  understanding,  and  Faust  for  the  heart. 
Occasionally,  however,  they  seem  to  change  parts,  and  the 
Devil  takes  Reason  under  his  protection  against  Faust. 

One  difficulty  I  find  therein,  that  the  Devil  through  his 
character,  which  is  material,  annuls  his  existence,  which 
is  ideal.  As  he  stands  there,  it  is  only  Reason  that  can 
comprehend  him  and  give  him  value. 

I  am  very  curious  to  see  how  the  popular  fable  will 
fasten  itself  to  the  philosophical  part  of  the  whole. 

Here  I  send  you  my  Ballad.  It  is  a  counterpart  to  your 
Cranes.  Write  me,  I  pray,  how  the  barometer  stands  ; 
I  should  like  to  know,  if  we  may  at  last  hope  for  steady 
weather.  Farewell. 

SCH. 


272 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


CCCXXVIII. 

The  two  poems  you  sent  me,  which  are  here  returned, 
I  like  well  enough,  and  they  are  sure  of  finding  friends 
among  the  public.    The  African  Desert  and  the  North 
Pole  are,  however,  painted  neither  through  actual  nor 
imaginative  contemplation,  but  rather  are  both  depicted 
through  negations,  and  so  they  do  not  sufficiently  contrast, 
as  the  intention  is,  with  the  sweet  cheerful  German  pic- 
ture.   The  other  poem,  too,  has  more  a  natural-historical 
look  than  a  poetical,  and  reminds  one  of  the  pictures 
where  the  animals  all  gather  round  Adam  in  Paradise 
Both  poems  express  a  gentle  aspiration,  which  resolves 
itself  into  contentment.    The  poet  has  a  cheerful  view  of 
nature,  with  which,  however,  he  seems  to  be  acquainted 
only  at  second-hand.  Some  animated  pictures  take  one  by 
surprise,  although  I  don't  like  to  see  the  gushing  fores 
as  contrasting  image  to  the  desert.    In  particular  expres 
sions,  as  in  the  measure,  there  is  here  and  there  somethin 
to  be  altered. 

Without  having  seen  more  things  by  the  author,  so  that 
one  could  judge  whether  he  had  other  means  and  talent 
in  other  measures,  I  should  not  know  what  to  counsel  him 
I  should  say  that  there  are  in  both  poems  good  ingredient 
for  a  poet,  which,  however,  alone  do  not  make  a  poet 
Perhaps  it  were  best  that  he  should  choose  a  perfectl 
simple  idyllic  fact  and  depict  it :  thus  one  could  soone 
see  how  he  would  succeed  with  painting  men,  whereupo 
after  all  everything  in  the  end  depends.  I  should  thin 
that  the  Ether  \yo\M  not  appear  ill  in  the  Almanac,  an 
the  Wanderer  suit  very  well  in  the  Horen. 

The  Ring,  which  I  here  send  back  again,  stands  re 
peated  reading  perfectly  well ;  it  grows,  indeed,  better,  as 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


273 


every  poem  of  merit  must,  inasmuch  as  it  compels  us  into 
the  mood,  which  we  do  not  at  once  bring  with  us  to  the 
first  hearing  or  reading. 

Fare  you  well  in  this  rainy  weather,  which  is  un- 
friendly as  well  to  the  hay-harvest  as  to  those  who  live  in 
gardens. 

Weimar,  28th  June,  1797. 

G. 

CCCXXIX. 

Jena,  30th  June,  1797. 

I  AM  glad  that  you  do  not  altogether  dislike  my  friend 
and  protege.  What  was  faulty  in  his  work  struck  me  very 
forcibly,  but  I  wasn't  quite  sure  whether,  too,  the  good  that  I 
thought  I  perceived  in  it  would  stand  the  test.  To  be  frank, 
I  found  in  these  poems  much  of  my  own  early  manner,  and 
it  is  not  the  first  time  that  the  author  has  reminded  me  of 
myself.  He  has  a  sharp  subjectivity,  and  combines  there- 
with a  certain  philosophical  spirit  and  penetration.  His 
condition  is  dangerous,  as  it  is  so  very  difficult  to  get  at 
such  natures.  Meanwhile,  however,  I  find  in  these  new 
pieces  the  beginning  of  a  certain  improvement,  when  I 
compare  them  with  his  former  works  ;  for,  in  short,  it  is 
Hölderlin  whom  you  saw  at  my  house  some  years  ago. 
I  would  not  give  him  up,  if  I  could  see  any  possibility  of 
drawing  him  out  of  his  own  company,  and  of  opening  to 
him  a  beneficial  and  enduring  influence  from  without.  He 
is  living  now  as  tutor  in  the  house  of  a  merchant  in  Frank- 
fort, and  is  therefore,  in  matters  of  taste  and  poetry,  bound- 
ed within  himself,  and  in  this  situation  is  ever  more  and 
more  driven  into  himself. 

For  the  Horen^  our  poetess  Mereau  has  made  me  a  very 
agreeable  present,  and  which  has  really  surprised  me.  It 

12* 


274 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


is  the  beginning  of  a  Novel,  in  Letters,  which  are  written 
with  far  more  clearness,  lightness,  and  simplicity,  than  I 
could  ever  have  expected  from  her.  In  them  she  begins 
to  free  herself  from  faults,  which  I  looked  upon  as  quite 
incurable  in  her,  and  if  she  continues  to  go  in  this  good 
road,  we  shall  yet  live  to  see  something  made  of  her.  I 
cannot,  indeed,  but  be  astonished  how  our  women  now  are 
able,  in  a  mere  dilettante  way,  to  acquire  a  certain  dex- 
terity in  writing,  which  comes  near  to  Art. 

Do  you  happen  to  know  one  Ahlwardt,  rector  in  Ank- 
1am,  through  a  translation  of  Callimachus  ?  He  has  offered 
himself  to  the  Horen,  and  refers  to  Voss,  who  sent  him  to 
me.  He  translates  out  of  ancient  and  modern  languages, 
and  he  says  that  in  the  Mercury  of  1795  there  are  several 
things  by  him  from  Euripides,  Ovid,  and  also  from  Camo- 
ens.  If  you  see  Boettiger,  have  the  goodness  to  ask  him 
about  that  matter,  and  to  obtain  through  him  those  numbers 
of  the  Mercury.  He  offers  me  Hero  and  Leander,  and 
some  translations  from  the  English,  and  I  should  like  very 
well  to  make  use  of  him. 

I  could  wish  that  the  two  tolerably  pleasant  days  which 
we  have  again  enjoyed  may  have  been  more  fruitful  to  you 
than  to  me.  My  cramps  have  been  sharper  again  for 
some  days,  and  have  not  let  me  sleep.  I  wanted  to  think 
about  Faust  again,  but  the  Devil  in  my  body  kept  down 
the  poetic  one. 

Fare  you  right  well. 

SCH. 

I  have  some  reminiscences  out  of  a  journey  through 
North  America  by  Thomas  Carver,  and  I  have  a  thought 
that  the  character  of  these  tribes  might  perhaps  be  well 
given  in  a  song.  For  that,  however,  I  should  have  to  look 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


275 


into  Carver  again.  I  had  the  book  of  Knebel,  who  is, 
however,  as  I  hear,  absent.  Perhaps  Voigt  has  it,  who 
is  so  richly  provided  with  books  of  travels,  and  would  lend 
it  to  me  on  one  of  the  carrier-days. 

cccxxx. 

1  WILL  also  acknowledge  that  those  poems  reminded  me 
somewhat  of  your  style  and  manner  ;  a  similarity  of  direc- 
tion is  certainly  not  to  be  mistaken  ;  but  they  have  neither 
the  fullness,  nor  the  vigor,  nor  the  depth  of  your  works. 
Meanwhile  these  poems  commend  themselves  by  a  cer- 
tain delicacy,  cordiality,  and  sobriety,  and  the  author 
deserves, — particularly  as  you  already  have  had  relations 
with  him, — that  you  should  do  what  is  possible  to  lead  and 
to  guide  him. 

Our  women  are  to  be  praised ,  if  they  continue  thus  to 
develope  and  form  themselves  by  study  and  practice. 
After  all,  modern  artists  have  no  other  way.  There  is  no 
theory, — at  least  no  generally  intelligible  one, — there  are 
no  decided  models,  which  represent  whole  classes,  and 
thus,  therefore,  must  each  one,  by  participation  and  approxi- 
mation and  much  practice,  cultivate  his  poor  self. 

Counsellor  Hirt  is  here  ;  he  is  to  me,  in  many  ways,  a 
strange  phenomenon.  The  monuments  of  ancient  and 
modern  art  in  the  glorious  land  are  very  vividly  present  to 
him  ;  and  as  a  man  of  understanding  he  knows  right  well 
how  to  classify  and  value  a  full  empirical  knowledge,  as, 
for  example,  in  Architecture,  which  is  properly  his 
department,  he  has  a  right  good  judgment.  The  well, 
known  idea  of  the  symbolical  transferring,  as  it  were» 
of  the  completed  wooden  construction  to  construction  with 
stone,  he  knows  how  to  carry  out  very  well,  and  to  exhibit 


276 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


the  conformity  of  the  parts  to  use  as  well  as  to  beauty.  In 
the  other  Arts  he  has  also  an  extensive  experience, 
but  in  strict  aesthetic  judgment  he  has  not  advanced  from 
the  point  where  we  left  him  ;  and  in  respect  to  antiquarian 
information,  he  cannot  stand  by  the  side  of  Boettiger,  be- 
cause he  has  neither  the  breadth  nor  the  subtlety.  On  the 
whole  his  presence  is  very  agreeable  to  me,  because  his 
endeavors  are  lively  and  edifying,  and  earnest,  without 
being  burthensome.  He  has  had  a  great  many  drawings 
made  for  his  architectural  demonstrations,  in  which  the 
good  and  the  faulty  are  very  judiciously  placed  side  by 
side. 

I  will  make  inquiries  about  the  new  contributor  as  well 
as  about  Carver. 

Herewith  is  a  sheet  on  account  of  the  other  books,  which 
I  beg  you  to  subscribe,  and  to  send  me  back  the  other  two. 

With  a  view  to  the  plan  and  general  survey  I  have  rap- 
idly pushed  Faust  forward  right  smartly, but  palpable  archi- 
tecture soon  frightened  away  the  air-phantoms.  I  only 
want  now  a  quiet  month,  and  the  work  would  grow  out  of 
the  earth  like  a  huge  family  of  toad-stools,  full  of  wonders 
and  horrors.  Should  nothing  come  out  of  my  journey,  I 
have  put  my  sole  trust  in  these  drolleries.  I  am  now  hav- 
ing what  is  printed  copied  again,  and  separated  at  the  same 
time  into  its  parts,  for  thus  the  new  can  the  better  grow  up 
together  with  the  old. 

From  Meyer  I  hav'n't  heard  for  some  time.  Of  my 
Poem  seven  sheets  are  arrived,  which  contain  five  Cantos 
and  the  half  of  the  sixth.  Fare  you  well,  and  think  of 
me. 


Weimar,  July  1st,  171)7. 


G. 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


277 


CCCXXXI. 

July  4th,  1797. 

Hirt  has  occupied  me  in  the  last  three  days  in  a  very- 
interesting  manner,  and  left  behind  him  with  me  what  will 
give  me  something  to  think  of  for  a  long  while.  His 
judgments,  although  they  are  somewhat  comprehensive, 
rest  on  a  manifold  and  long  contemplation,  and  express  in 
a  few  words  fruitful  results  of  an  active  observation  and 
thorough  study.  To  me  it  seems  that  in  the  main  he 
agrees  tolerably  well  with  you  and  Meyer ;  at  least,  one 
can  talk  with  him  long  of  what  is  deepest  and  most  inward, 
without  striking  on  a  dissonance,  or  being  unintelligible  to 
each  other.  I  should  like  to  have  been  the  third  man 
when  you  conversed  with  him  on  these  subjects,  because  I 
cannot  long  maintain  a  conversation  about  plastic  Art  out 
of  my  own  materials,  but  can  listen  with  profit. 

He  is  very  much  prepossessed  against  Michael  Angelo, 
and  it  seems  to  me  that  he  places  him  far  too  low, 
when  he  allows  him  only  a  temporary  value.  At  the  same 
time,  however,  I  found  his  arguments  in  favor  of  this  hard 
sentence  against  Michael  Angelo  very  intelligent,  and 
doubt  merely  as  to  the  just  statement  of  facts  whereon  he 
grounds  them. 

For  the  rest  I  don't  quite  know  yet  what  I  ought  to 
think  of  Hirt,  and  whether  he  will  stand  the  test  of  a 
longer  acquaintance.  Perhaps  much  does  not  belong  to 
him  wherewith  he  now  makes  a  show  ;  at  least,  it  seems 
to  me,  that  the  warmth  and  vivacity  with  which  he  could 
set  forth  many  things,  do  not  properly  lie  in  his  nature. 

Make  him  tell  you  something  about  Painter  Mueller,  if 
he  has  not  already  done  it.  It  is  quite  diverting  how  the 
article  in  the  Horen  against  Fernow  originated. 


278 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


I  hope  to-morrow  to  hear  from  you  that  Faust  has 
advanced.  Hirt's  being  here  has  drawn  me  off  from 
work  for  the  last  few  days ;  only  the  idea  of  the  North 
American  Song  has  been  executed.  I  send  the  Song, 
which,  for  the  sake  of  change,  may  pass. 

Herewith  is  the  note  of  the  books,  together  with  a  letter 
from  Humboldt.  You  will  receive  the  books  through  my 
brother-in-law,  to  whom  I  send  a  package  to-day. 

Fare  you  well. 


Faust  has  for  the  time  been  laid  aside  ;  the  nortM 
em  phantoms  have  been  for  a  while  thrust  back  by  the 
southern  reminiscences  ;  nevertheless,  I  have  worked  out 
the  whole  very  circumstantially  in  reference  to  the  plan 


I  am  very  glad  that  you  have  become  personally  ac- 
quainted with  our  old  Roman  friend  ;  you  will  in  future 
better  understand  him  and  his  works.  One  sees  in  him 
also  what  good  a  rich  and  almost  complete  empirical 
knowledge  brings  forth  in  an  intelligent  man.  Therein 
you  judge  him  quite  correctly,  that  his  logical  operations 
go  on  perfectly  well,  if  the  premises  are  right ;  but  he 
often  begins  by  laying  down  premises  as  general,  which, 
if  not  false,  are  yet  limited  and  one-sided,  so  that  the  con- 
clusions can  only  stand  a  short  time.  Thus  his  dislike  of 
Michael  Angelo  springs  from  a  fixed,  untenable  idea  ; 
thus  in  the  Essay  on  Laocoon,  which  I  send  herewith,  he 
is  in  many  respects  right,  and  nevertheless  he  falls  short 
in  the  whole,  as  he  does  not  perceive  that  Lessing's, 
Winkelman's  and  his,  yea,  and  other  expositions,  all 


CCCXXXII. 


ScH. 


and  general  survey. 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


279 


together  do  no  more  than  define  the  boundaries  of  art. 
At  the  same  time,  it  is  very  good  how  he  insists  upon  the 
characteristic  and  pathetic  in  the  plastic  arts  also. 

I  have  on  this  occasion  recalled  to  mind  an  essay  which 
I  wrote  many  years  ago,  and  as  I  have  not  been  able  to 
find  it,  I  have  put  together  the  matter,  which  I  still  well 
remember,  according  to  my,  and  I  may  say  our,  present 
convictions.  Perhaps  I  can  send  it  over  on  Saturday. 
The  Essay  of  Hirt  is  a  good  preparation  for  it,  as  it  has 
been  the  latest  prompter  of  it.  Perhaps  this  will  give 
occasion  to  much  else,  particularly  if  Meyer  comes  back 
with  his  treasures,  as  I  shall  likewise  take  the  opportu- 
nity to  go  at  the  Church  of  St.  Peter's  again,  because  this 
treatise  can  also  be  looked  upon  as  the  basis  of  so  many 
other  things. 

The  So7ig  of  the  Dead,  which  herewith  goes  back  to 
you,  has  its  genuine  character  of  reality  and  humor,  which 
in  such  cases  so  well  becomes  savage  natures.  It  is  a 
great  merit  of  poetry,  that  it  transports  us  into  these  moods, 
as  it  is  likewise  meritorious  to  be  ever  widening  the  circle 
of  poetic  subjects.  Fare  you  right  well,  greet  your  dear 
wife,  and  use  and  enjoy  the  time  as  much  and  as  well  as 
is  possible. 

From  Meyer  I  have  as  yet  heard  nothing. 

Weimar,  5th  July,  1797. 

G. 

Could  you  send  me  a  copy  of  Wallenstein's  Camp  ? 
I  have  promised  it  to  the  Duchess,  who  has  already  several 
times  inquired  with  interest  about  your  work. 


28P  CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 

CCCXXXIII. 

I  DELAY  not  to  send  you  immediately  the  note  I  hav 
just  received  from  Meyer.    It  was  my  earnest,  and  I  ma 
truly  say,  at  this  moment  my  only  wish,  to  learn  that 
was  again  in  Switzerland,  where  he  before  recovered  so 
beautifully,  and  will  also  this  time  I  am  sure  recover 
again. 

I  am  now  preparing  for  my  departure,  so  that  I  may 
get  off  as  soon  as  the  Duke  arrives.  It  were  for  a  hundred 
considerations  admirable  and  well  if  you  could  come 
over  here  for  some  days  ;  I  should  indeed  at  all  events 
visit  you  once  more,  but  that  could  only  be  for  a  few 
hours,  and  we  should  then  still  have  much  left  to  talk  of. 
To-morrow  early  more.  Farewell. 

Weimar,  7th  July,  1797. 

G. 

CCCXXXIV. 

Jena,  7th  July,  1797. 

Now  were,  it  seems  to  me,  just  the  right  moment  to 
review  and  throw  light  upon  the  Greek  works  of  Art 
from  the  side  of  the  characteristic :  for  the  views  of 
Winkelman  and  Lessing  continue  to  prevail  universally, 
and  our  latest  aesthetic  writers,  as  well  on  poetry  as  the 
plastic  arts,  do  their  utmost  to  free  the  Beautiful  of  the 
Greeks  from  all  that  is  characteristic,  and  to  make  it  the 
standard  of  the  modern  Beautiful.  To  me  it  seems,  that 
the  later  analysts,  in  their  endeavors  to  isolate  the  idea  of 
the  Beautiful  and  establish  it  in  a  certain  purity,  have 
almost  hollowed  it  out  and  converted  it  into  an  empty 
sound ;  that  they  have  gone  much  too  far  in  contradis- 
tinguishing the  Beautiful  from  the  right  and  fitting,  and 
that  they  have  grossly  exaggerated  a  separation  which  only 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


281 


the  philosopher  makes,  and  which  is  only  admissible  from 
one  point  of  view. 

Many  again  fail,  I  find,  in  another  way,  inasmuch  as 
they  refer  the  idea  of  the  Beautiful  far  too  much  to  the 
subject  of  a  work  of  art  instead  of  to  the  treatment,  and  so 
they  cannot  but  be  embarrassed  when  they  have  to  com- 
prehend under  one  single  idea  of  beauty,  the  Apollo  of 
the  Vatican,  and  other  similar  works, — which  from  their 
subject  alone  are  beautiful  forms, — with  the  Laokoon,  with 
a  Faun,  and  other  painful  and  ignoble  representations. 

It  is,  as  you  know,  the  same  case  with  poetry.  How 
have  people  ever  worried  themselves,  and  still  worry  them- 
selves, to  reconcile  the  coarse,  often  low  and  hateful  na- 
tures in  Homer  and  the  tragic  poets,  with  the  notions  they 
had  formed  for  themselves  of  the  Grecian  Beautiful ! 
Would  that  some  one  were  once  bold  enough  to  attempt 
to  throw  out  of  circulation  the  idea  and  even  the  word 
Beauty,  to  which  all  those  false  notions  are  inseparably 
tied,  and  in  its  stead  to  place,  as  it  should  be.  Truth  in  its 
most  comprehensive  sense ! 

I  should  like  to  have  the  Treatise  of  Hirt  in  the  Horen. 
You  and  Meyer,  if  the  path  is  once  open,  would  then  be 
able  to  take  up  the  thread  the  more  conveniently,  and  you 
would  likewise  find  the  public  the  better  prepared.  I, 
:qo,  should  find  my  account  in  it  if  this  matter  touching 
he  characteristic  and  passionate  in  Greek  works  of  art 
came  to  be  thoroughly  discussed,  for  I  foresee  that  the 
investigations  into  Greek  tragedy,  which  I  have  laid  off 
for  myself,  will  lead  me  to  the  same  point.  Your  Essay 
I  await  with  eagerness. 

I  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  musical  part  of 
t>he  Almanac  must  be  finished  first  of  all,  because  other- 


282 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


wise  the  composer  will  not  be  ready.  Therefore  I  have 
now  gone  to  work  at  my  bell-founder's  song,  and  since 
yesterday  I  have  been  studying  in  Kruenitz's  Encyclo- 
paedia, out  of  which  I  get  a  great  deal  of  profit.  This 
poem  I  have  much  at  heart,  but  it  will  cost  me  several 
weeks,  because  I  need  for  it  so  many  varieties  of  moods, 
and  there  is  a  great  bulk  to  be  worked  up.  I  should  have 
no  objection,  if  you  advise  me  to  it,  to  let  four  or  five  short 
Nadowessian  songs  follow  after,  in  order  to  carry  through 
a  variety  of  conditions  this  creation  into  which  I  have  now 
thrown  myself. 

My  projected  journey  to  Weimar  would  not  be  brought 
to  pass  this  week  ;  I  however  hope  to  effect  it  next  week. 
The  Prologue  is  just  now  abroad  ;  so  soon  as  it  returns, 
I  will  send  it  or  bring  it  myself  with  me. 

Fare  you  well.    My  wife  sends  best  greetings  to  you. 

SCH. 

cccxxxv. 

The  treatise  of  Hirt  has  the  great  merit  that  it  incul- 
cates the  characteristic  with  so  much  spirit,  and  its  ap- 
pearance must  force  a  discussion  of  the  subject.  I  will 
try  to  get  it  for  the  Horen.  Here  is  also  mine,  which  I 
commend  to  your  indulgence  as  being  as  a  whole,  as  well 
as  in  the  parts,  a  hasty  Essay.  I  desire  to  hear  how  you 
are  satisfied  with  the  method  and  the  spirit,  as  I  am 
anxious  to  hear  Meyer's  opinion  of  the  exposition  proper 
of  the  work  of  Art.  One  might  extend  this  treatise  over 
the  finest  statues  of  antiquity  and  other  works  of  art,  and 
with  you  I  am  convinced  that  one  would  cooperate  very 
acceptably  with  whoever  is  engaged  in  the  field  of  Tra- 
gedy. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


283 


As  our  friend  Meyer  is  once  more  safe  and  whole  on 
northern  ground,  I  foresee  much  good.  I  say  no  more 
to-day.  Fare  you  well,  and  bring  the  Bell  to  a  happy 
end ;  as  also  I  advise  some  Nadowessian  songs.  If  it  is 
possible,  do  come  next  week  ;  it  would  really,  too,  be 
pretty  if  you  could  come  into  closer  relations  with  Hirt,  and 
could  hear  from  himself  his  architectural  deductions. 

Weimar,  8th  July,  1797. 

S. 

CCCXXXVI. 

Jena,  lOth  July,  1797. 

You  have  with  few  words,  and  in  an  artless  dress, 
uttered  glorious  things  in  this  treatise,  and  spread  a  truly 
admirable  clearness  over  the  beautiful  subject.  In  fact, 
the  treatise  is  a  model  of  how  one  ought  to  look  at  and 
judge  of  works  of  art ;  but  it  is  also  a  model  how  one 
ought  to  apply  principles.  In  regard  to  both,  I  have  learnt 
very  much  out  of  it. 

More  thereupon  orally,  for  I  intend  to  bring  it  with  me 
to-morrow,  when,  if  nothing  intervenes,  I  shall  be  with 
you  after  three  o'clock.  In  case  I  cannot  well  lodge  with 
you,  I  beg  you  to  let  me  know  at  the  gate,  through  a  note, 
so  that  I  may  then  drive  to  my  brother-in-law's.  My  wife 
comes  with  me,  and  we  purpose  staying  till  Thursday. 

Meyer's  happy  arrival  in  his  native  city,  and  the  rapid 
improvement  of  his  health,  has  given  me  hearty  plea- 
sure. Also  the  certainty,  at  least  for  this  autumn  and 
winter,  not  to  be  so  very  far  separated  from  you,  is  to  me 
very  comforting. 

Farewell.  Humboldt  prays  you  to  send  to  Dresden  as 
soon  as  possible  his  iEschylus,  which  he  has  need  of. 

SCH. 


284 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


CCCXXXVII. 

At  parting,  you  could  have  given  me  nothing  more 
grateful  and  wholesome  than  your  visit  of  the  last  eight 
days.  I  believe  I  don't  deceive  myself  when  I  look  upon 
our  being  together  this  time  as  again  very  fruitful ;  so 
much  has  been  developed  for  the  present,  and  prepared 
for  the  future,  that  I  set  off  with  more  contentment,  as  on 
the  way  I  hope  to  be  right  busy,  and  again  look  forward 
to  your  cooperation  on  my  return.  If  we  continue  thus  to 
execute  simultaneously  different  works,  and  while  we 
gently  urge  forward  the  larger,  cheer  and  divert  ourselves 
with  smaller  ones,  much  may  be  yet  brought  about. 

Here  is  the  Polycrates  back ;  I  hope  that  the  Cranes 
will  soon  follow  after  me.  By  Saturday,  you  will  hear 
more  definitively  about  my  departure.  Fare  you  well 
and  greet  your  dear  wife.    To  Schlegel,  I  wrote  to-day. 

Weimar,  19th  July,  1797. 

G. 

CCCXXXVIII. 

Jkna,  21st  July,  1797. 

I  CAN  never  part  from  you  without  something  having 
been  planted  in  me  ;  and  it  gives  me  joy,  if,  for  the  much 
that  you  give  me,  I  can  set  you  and  your  inward  wealth 
in  motion.  A  relation  thus  built  on  reciprocal  perfecti- 
bility must  ever  keep  fresh  and  active,  and  gain  the  more 
in  variety,  the  more  harmonious  it  becomes,  and  the  more 
diversity  disappears,  which,  with  so  many  others,  is  all 
that  hinders  uniformity.  I  may  hope  that  by  degrees  we 
shall  understand  each  other  in  everything,  of  which  ac- 
count can  be  given,  and  in  that  which  from  its  nature 
cannot  be  understood,  we  shall  remain  near  to  one  another 
through  feeling. 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


285 


The  most  beautiful  and  most  fruitful  way  that  I  profit 
by  our  mutual  communications,  and  appropriate  them  to 
myself,  is  always  this,  that  I  apply  them  immediately  to 
the  work  I  have  in  hand,  and  use  them  at  once  productive- 
ly ;  and,  as  you  say  in  the  introduction  to  Laocoon,  that 
the  whole  of  Art  lies  in  one  single  work,  so  I  believe  that 
one  must  transfuse  all  that  is  general  in  Art  into  the  most 
particular  case,  if  the  reality  of  the  idea  is  to  be  preserved. 
And  thus,  I  hope,  shall  my  Wallenstein,  and  whatever  of 
importance  I  may  in  future  produce,  contain  and  show  in 
the  concrete  the  whole  system  of  that  which  in  our  inter- 
course has  been  able  to  pass  into  my  being. 

The  longing  after  this  work  stirs  again  strongly  within 
me,  for  now  it  is  a  more  definite  object  that  assigns  to  the 
faculties  their  activity,  and  each  step  is  here  more  import- 
ant, instead  of  which,  with  new  raw  matter  I  am  obliged 
so  often  to  grasp  about  me  empty-handed.  I  will  now 
first  try  to  get  the  songs  for  the  Almanac  ready,  because 
the  composers  urge  me  so  strongly,  then  try  my  luck  at 
the  Cranes,  and  with  September  return  to  the  Tragedy. 

The  accounts  from  you  will  bring  a  fruitful  change  into 
the  simple  existence  to  which  I  am  now  limited,  and  in 
addition  to  the  new  that  you  will  convey  to  me,  will  reani- 
mate in  me  the  old  that  has  been  treated  of  between  us. 

And  so  farewell,  and  think  of  me  when  you  are  with 
our  friend,  as  you  will  ever  be  present  to  us.  My  wife 
says  to  you  a  hearty  farewell. 

SCH. 


28G 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


CCCXXXIX. 

To  Professor  Meyer,  at  Staefa. 

Jena,  21st  July,  1797. 

Heartily  we  give  you  welcome  on  German  ground, 
dear  friend.  Anxiety  about  you  has  often  disturbed  us, 
and  cordially  we  rejoice  at  your  returning  health. 

I  am  ashamed  that  the  first  line  from  me  reaches  you 
while  you  are  again  on  the  return  to  us,  but  as  much  as  I 
should  have  had  to  say  to  you  orally,  yet  nothing  presented 
itself  that  I  should  have  cared  to  send  over  the  mountains. 
What  we  were  busied  with  and  how  it  fared  with  us,  that 
you  learnt  from  our  friend,  and  he  will  also  have  told  you 
how  much  you  were  present  to  us.  From  him  I  have 
heard  with  hearty  interest  of  what  concerns  you,  how  ex-  i 
cellently  you  employed  your  time,  and  what  treasures  you 
were  collecting  for  us  all. 

Nor  have  we  in  the  meantime  been  inactive,  as  you 
know,  and  least  of  all  our  friend,  who  in  the  last  few  years 
has  really  surpassed  himself.  His  epic  poem  you  have 
read ;  you  will  admit  that  it  is  the  pinnacle  of  his  and  all 
our  modern  art.  I  have  seen  it  grow  up,  and  have  won- 
dered almost  as  much  at  the  manner  of  its  growth  as  at 
the  completed  work.  Whilst  the  rest  of  us  are  obliged 
painfully  to  collect  and  to  prune,  in  order  slowly  to  bring 
forth  anything  passable,  he  has  only  gently  to  shake  the 
tree,  in  order  to  have  fall  to  him  the  most  beautiful  fruit, 
ripe  and  heavy.  It  is  incredible  with  what  ease  he  now 
reaps  upon  himself  the  fruits  of  a  well-bestowed  life  and  a 
persistent  culture  ;  how  significant  and  sure  now  all  his 
steps  are ;  how  the  clearness  as  to  himself  and  as  to  ob- 
jects, preserves  him  from  every  idle  effort  and  beating 
about.    But  you  have  him  now  yourself,  and  can  satisfy 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


287 


yourself  of  all  this  with  your  own  eyes.  But  you  will 
agree  with  me  in  this,  that  on  the  summit  where  he  now 
stands,  he  ought  to  think  more  of  bringing  the  beautiful 
form  he  has  given  himself  to  outward  exhibition,  than  to 
go  out  in  search  of  new  material ;  in  short,  that  he  now 
ought  to  live  entirely  for  poetic  execution.  When  once 
one  among  thousands  who  strive  thereafter,  has  brought  it 
to  that,  out  of  himself  to  make  a  beautiful  complete  whole, 
he  can,  in  my  opinion,  do  nothing  better  than  to  seek  for 
this  whole  every  possible  mode  of  expression ;  for  how- 
ever further  he  may  get  to,  he  can  still  do  nothing  higher. 
I  acknowledge,  therefore,  that  all  that  by  a  longer  resi- 
dence in  Italy  he  might  gain  for  certain  ends,  to  me  would 
nevertheless  seem  lost  for  his  highest  and  most  immediate 
end.  Therefore  prompt  him  on  this  account  also,  dear 
friend,  to  come  back  very  soon,  and  not  to  seek  too  far  for 
that  which  he  has  at  home. 

I  have  the  agreeable  hope  of  having  you  both  probably 
again  near  me  this^  Winter,  and  thus  to  continue  the  old 
delightful  life  of  inter-communication.  My  health  is  not 
much  better,  but  also  no  worse,  and  that  is  a  good  sign ; 
the  courage  and  will  are  left,  and  the  transition  from  specu- 
lation to  production  has  refreshed  me  and  made  me  young. 

I  have  also  in  the  interim  become  acquainted  with  your 
pupil,  and  have  had  much  pleasure  in  her  talent  and  agree- 
able nature.  She  thinks  of  you  with  lively  interest ;  and 
1  hope  the  poetic  talent,  which  has  since  developed  itself 
so  finely  in  her,  will  not  have  injured  the  other. 

Farewell,  my  valued  friend ;  I  look  forward  with  eager- 
ness to  the  more  direct  accounts  that  G.  will  give  me  of 
you.    My  wife  greets  you  heartily ;  my  family  has,  in  the 


288 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


meanwhile,  increased,  as  you  perhaps  know,  and  you  will 
find  Carl  a  fine  well-disposed  boy. 

SCH. 

CCCXL. 

To-day  I  say  nothing  but  my  best  thanks  for  your  two- 
fold farewell  greeting,  and  for  the  Horen  you  sent. 

The  longer  I  remain  here  the  more  trifles  there  are  to 
do,  and  time  passes  without  my  either  taking  in  or  bring- 
ing forth  anything,  and  I  must  take  care  that  I  don't  grow 
impatient. 

Schlegel  has  just  left  me ;  it  seemed  merely  that  his 
wish  to  form  once  more  closer  relations  with  you  has  this 
time  again  brought  him  hither. 

Could  you  have  re-copied  for  me  your  Diver,  Polycrates, 
and  Glove?  I  sent  my  copies  to  Meyer.  I  may,  perhaps, 
meet  on  the  road  a  few  good  Christian  or  heathen  souls  to 
whom  one  might  like  to  read  such  things.  Before  I  set 
out  I  will  at  all  events  write  again. 

Weimar,  22d  July,  1797. 

G. 

CCCXLI. 

Jena,  23d  July,  1797. 

To  wait  with  one's  trunk  packed  is  a  most  wretched 
condition,  from  which  I  wish  you  a  speedy  release.  It  is 
well  that  just  at  this  time  you  see  before  you  lighter  occu- 
pations and  sports,  for  which  an  interrupted  and  half  mood 
at  any  rate  suffice. 

Humboldt  writes  me  that  his  wife  has  the  fever  again. 
That  will  be  a  fine  journey,  for  they  will  now  have  to  stay 
in  Dresden  over  the  time.  I  tell  you  this  for  comfort,  as 
the  other  Jew  did  to  Shylock  :  other  people  have  ill 
luck  too. 


I 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


289 


The  three  pieces,  which  Humboldt  has  just  sent  back 
to  me,  I  enclose  herewith. 

Farewell.  I  will  write  again  the  day  after  to-morrow, 
if  nothing  in  the  meantime  happens. 

ScH. 

To  Boettiger  I  will  send  to-day  the  Klopstockiana,  and 
have  also  written  him  a  few  lines. 

The  news  of  your  indisposition  came  upon  me  very 
disagreeably  this  morning  early  after  a  sleepless  night ;  I 
hope  this  letter  will  find  you  already  mending,  whereto, 
perhaps,  the  arrival  of  the  Duke  will  contribute  its  part. 
You  will,  however,  have  cause  to  expect  after  this  firmer 
health. 

I  here  send  you,  for  your  recreation,  an  entirely  new 
work,  which  testifies  to  German  industry  in  a  quite  new 
mode.  Such  a  phenomenon. of  nullity,  absurdity,  and  im- 
pudence is  really  only  possible  in  these  latest  times  of  our 
literature,  when  the  rapid  exchange  of  ideas  and  forms  no 
longer  leaves  time  to  determine  meum  and  tuum.  I  have 
found  here  printed,  amongst  other  things,  whole  passages 
half  a  page  long  out  of  my  aesthetic  treatises,  without  mark 
of  quotation,  and  wondered  not  a  little  to  hear  my  ipsissima 
verba  resound  in  my  ears  out  of  the  kingly  mouth. 

To  make  up  for  this,  however,  a  new  poet  has  announced 
himsfelf,  who  at  last  promises  something  better.  He  lives 
in  Friedberg,  near  Frankfort ;  his  name  is  Schmidt,  and 
from  his  whole  habitus,  I  conclude  that  he  must  live  in  a 
right  savage  loneliness,  and  perhaps  in  a  low  station. 
From  some  samples  which  I  enclose,  you  will  see  that  the 
man  has  something  in  him,  and  that  through  a  rough,  hard 
diction,  genuine  deep  sensibility  and  a  certain  free  move- 

13 


290 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


ment  of  mind  are  visible.  When  this  half-savage  shall 
have  got  his  language  and  the  verse  well  under  command, 
and  an  outward  grace  to  an  inward  substance,  I  hope  to 
make  in  him  an  acquisition  for  future  Almanacs.  If  he 
pleases  you  likewise,  it  were  worth  considering,  whether 
you  could  not  say  something  cheering  to  him  in  Frankfort, 
as  well  as  to  our  Captain  Steigentesh. 

I  break  off  for  to-day,  for  the  pen  almost  falls  out  of  my 
hand  from  weariness.    Do  let  us  hear  to-morrow  how  you 
are  ;  my  wife  also  sends  you  hearty  wishes  for  your  re 
CO  very.    Fare  you  right  well. 

Jena,  24th  July,  1797. 

SCH. 

CCCXLIl. 

Hearty  thanks  for  your  concern  about  my  health.  The 
effects  of  a  cold  plagued  me  very  badly  for  four  and  twenty 
hours,  but  now  I  am  again  fully  re-established,  and  hop 
yet  to  start  on  my  journey  at  the  end  of  this  week 
Herewith  comes  the  once  more  murdered,  or  rather  the 
putrified,  Gustavus  the  Third ;  it  is  just  such  a  beggar' 
soup  as  the  German  public  like.     This  kind  of  writings 
has  taken  the  place  of  the  conversations  in  the  realm  of 
the  dead,  which  always  made  great  impression  on  our 
truth-loving  nation.    The  new  poet  is  right  brave,  and 
should  like  to  make  his  acquaintance.    You  will  perhaps 
amend  here  and  there  a  trifle,  only  for  the  sake  of  clear 
ness.    His  loneliness  and  narrow  circle  are,  in  truth,  very 
perceptible  in  him. 

The  Duke  arrived  yesterday,  and  looks  very  well ;  the 
celebrated  Marianne  Meyer  is  also  here.  It  is  a  pity  she 
hadn't  come  some  days  earlier,  I  should  have  liked  you 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


291 


to  become  acquainted  with  this  singular  being.  Fare  you 
well,  and  greet  your  dear  wife.  When  my  eye  fell  upon 
poems  in  the  hand-writing  of  your  copyist,  I  thought  I 
already  saw  the  cranes  flying.  I  am  so  out  of  mood  that 
I  must  to-day  quickly  end  even  my  prose. 

Weimar,  26th  July,  1797. 

G, 

CCCXLIII. 

Jena,  28th  July,  1797. 

In  the  uncertainty  whether  this  letter  will  find  you  still 
in  Weimar,  I  write  you  only  a  few  words  at  parting  ;  we 
are  all  rejoiced  to  see  you  so  soon  recovered,  and  at  last 
in  the  enjoyment  of  your  wish.  May  the  journey  now 
have  a  good  sequel,  and  if  interesting  acquaintances  fail 
on  the  way,  may  it  be  shortened  to  you  by  the  Muses. 
Perhaps  out  of  your  travelling  ship  there  will  fly  a  beau- 
tiful poetic  dove,  although  cranes  do  not  take  their  flight 
from  South  to  North.  These  continue  at  rest  with  me, 
and  I  even  avoid  thinking  of  them,  in  order  to  send  forth 
some  other  things  first.  Just  now  the  poems  of  friends, 
male  and  female,  the  publication  of  Agnes  Lilien,  and  the 
equipping  of  the  Horen,  draw  me  off"  very  much,  and  not 
at  all  agreeably. 

To  Schlegel  I  made  some  comments  on  his  Prome- 
theus, whereupon  in  the  answer,  which  I  enclose,  he  has 
explained  himself  at  great  length,  but  not  very  satisfacto- 
rily. I  have,  meanwhile,  done  my  part,  and  at  any  rate 
the  matter  could  not  be  mended. 

To  my  new  Friedberger  poet,  Schmidt,  and  alsotoHoel- 
derlin,  I  have  given  notice  of  your  coming  arrival  in  Frank- 
fort ;  it  is  now  to  be  seen  whether  these  good  people  will 
gather  courage  to  present  themselves  before  you.    I  hope 


292 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


they  will,  and  also  to  you  these  poetic  figures  will  per- 
haps not  be  unwelcome  in  prosaic  Frankfort.  You  will 
likewise  find  there  the  imperial  Captain  von  Steigentesh. 
Once  more  take  our  blessing  on  your  journey,  and  fare 
you  right  well ! 

ScH. 

CCCXLIV. 

To-morrow,  then,  at  last,  I  set  off  from  this  in  earnest, 
but  precisely  four  weeks  later  than  I  had  intended.  From 
the  difficulty  of  getting  off,  my  journey  ought  by  rights  to 
become  very  important ;  I  fear,  however,  that  it  will  be 
like  other  human  things.  From  Frankfort  you  will  have 
soon  at  least  a  few  words. 

Within  a  few  days  I  have  read  aloud  our  Ballad-experi- 
ments, and  perceived  a  good  impression  from  them.  In 
your  Glove  the  doubt  was  started  whether  one  could  say 
an  animal  licks  its  tongue ;  I  really  did  not  know  what  to 
say  to  it. 

I  herewith  send  Schlegel's  article  back ;  it  is  with 
poems  as  with  actions,  'tis  bad  when  ihey  have  to  be 
justified. 

Farewell.  You  said  lately  that  only  poetry  can  give 
the  mood  for  poetry,  and  as  this  is  very  true,  one  sees  how 
much  time  the  poet  loses  when  he  mingles  in  the  world, 
particularly  when  he  has  no  dearth  of  matter.  I  shudder 
already  at  the  breadth  of  the  matter-of-fact  world  before 
me  ;  nevertheless,  let  us  hope  for  the  best,  and  when  we 
meet  again  recruit  ourselves  once  more  in  manifold  re- 
citals and  observations.  Fare  you  right  well  with  your 
dear  wife  and  yours. 

Weimar,  29th  July,  1797. 

G. 


SCHILLEll   AND  GOETHE. 


293 


CCCXLV. 

Jena,  7th  Aug.,  1797. 

We  are  very  desirous  to  hear,  dear  friend,  how  your 
journey  ended.  The  oppressive  heat  by  day,  and  the 
ahnost  incessant  storm  by  night,  made  us  anxious  about 
you,  for  here  it  was  hardly  to  be  borne,  and  I  have  not  yet 
got  up  from  it,  so  violently  did  it  attack  my  nerves. 

I  can  therefore  say  little  to  you  to-day,  for  T  am  scarcely 
beginning  to  feel  myself  free  from  strong  stirrings  of  fever, 
which  I  have  hafd  for  eight  days  past,  and  feared  really 
that  I  should  fall  into  a  serious  illness. 

Zelter  sent  within  a  few  days  the  Melodies  to  your 
Bayadere,  and  to  the  song  of  Mignon.  The  latter  pleases 
me  particularly.  The  Melody  to  the  Ballad  does  not 
indeed  suit  equally  well  all  the  strophes,  but  in  some,  as 
in  the  third  from  the  last,  the  chorus,  "  Youth  we  carry," 
does  very  well.  I  enclose  the  Melodies,  in  case  you  meet, 
in  Frankfort,  with  a  pair  of  fine  voices  that  can  sing  them 
to  you. 

Herder  has  also  sent  me  back  our  Ballads,  which  I  had 
transmitted  to  him  ;  but  what  impression  they  made,  I  can- 
not ascertain  from  his  letter.  From  it,  on  the  other  hand, 
I  learn  that  in  the  Diver  I  have  merely  re-wrought  with 
improvement  a  certain  Nicholas  Pesce,  who  must  have 
narrated  or  sung  the  same  story.  Do  you  happen  to  know 
this  Nicholas  Pesce,  with  whom  I  am  thus  so  unexpect- 
edly put  in  competition  ?  For  the  rest  we  can  hope  for 
absolutely  nothing  from  Herder  for  this  year's  Almanac  ; 
he  complains  of  his  poverty,  but  declares  that  he  there- 
fore prizes  the  more  others'  v/ealth. 

I  have  lately  taken  up  again  Diderot  sur  la  Peinture,  in 
order  again  to  invigorate  myself  in  the  animating  company 
of  this  genius.    It  strikes  me  that  it  is  with  Diderot  as 


294 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


with  many  others,  who  hit  the  truth  with  their  feeUrig,  but 
often  lose  it  again  through  their  reasoning.  To  me  he 
looks  altogether  too  much  in  works  of  art  to  foreign  and 
moral  ends  ;  he  does  not  seek  these  sufficiently  in  the  abso- 
lute condition  and  in  its  representation.  To  him  the  beau- 
tiful work  of  art  must  always  serve  for  something  else. 
And  as  the  truly  beautiful  and  perfect  in  art  necessarily 
makes  men  better,  so  he  seeks  for  this  effect  of  Art  in  its 
argument  and  in  a  definite  result  for  the  understanding  or 
for  the  moral  sentiment.  I  believe  it  to  be  one  of  the 
merits  of  our  latter  philosophy,  that  we  have  a  pure 
formula  to  express  the  subjective  operation  of  the  aesthe- 
tic, without  destroying  its  character. 

Fare  you  well.  Gladden  us  soon  with  good  tidings. 
From  my  wife  heartiest  greetings,  the  children  are  well ; 
news  I  cannot  give  you  from  my  narrow  circle. 

SCH. 

CCCXLVI. 

Without  the  slightest  mischance,  I  arrived  in  Frank- 
fort in  spirits  and  health,  and  now,  for  the  first  time,  in  a 
quiet,  cheerful  house,  I  reflect  upon  what  it  is  at  my  time 
of  life  to  go  into  the  world.  At  an  earlier  age,  objects 
appear  grander  to  us  and  perplex  us  more,  because  we 
cannot  ji-dge  them  nor  embrace  them.  Later  we  know 
things  bei  ter,  a  larger  number  of  them  interests  ns,  and  we 
should  be  very  badly  off,  if  self-possession  and  method  did 
not  come  to  our  help  in  these  cases.  I  will  put  in  order 
as  well  as  possible  everything  that  has  occurred  to  me  in 
these  eight  days,  test  my  plan  on  Frankfort  itself  as  a  city 
that  embraces  so  much,  and  then  prepare  myself  for  a  fur- 
ther journey. 


SCHILLER   AXD  GOETHE. 


295 


It  strack  me  as  very  remarkable  what  the  peculiar  char- 
acter of  the  public  in  a  large  city  is.  It  lives  in  an  inces- 
sant tumult  of  getting  and  spending,  and  that  which  we  call 
high  mood  can  neither  be  produced  nor  communicated. 
All  pleasures,  even  the  theatre,  are  intended  only  to  dis- 
tract,* and  the  great  fondness  of  the  reading  public  for 
journals  and  novels  arises  precisely  thence,  that  the  former 
always,  and  the  latter  mostly,  bring  distraction  to  distrac- 
tion. 

I  even  think  1  have  remarked  a  kind  of  shyness  towards 
poetic  productions,  or,  at  least,  in  so  far  as  they  are  poetic, 
which,  from  these  causes,  appears  to  me  quite  natural. 
Poetry  requires,  nay,  exacts,  collectedness  ;  it  isolates 
man  against  his  will  ;  it  forces  itself  on  the  attention 
repeatedly,  and  is  in  the  broad  world  (not  to  say  the  great 
world)  as  inconvenient  as  a  faithful  mistress. 

I  accustom  myself  now  to  write  down  everything  as 
objects  present  themselves,  and  what  I  think  about  them, 
without  requiring  of  myself  the  most  accurate  observation 
and  ripest  judgment,  or  thinking  of  a  future  use.  When 
one  has  gone  entirely  over  the  whole  ground,  then  one  can 
always  with  better  survey  make  use  of  the  supply  as  ma- 
terial. 

I  have  occasionally  visited  the  theatre,  and  made  my- 
self a  methodical  plan  for  judging  of  it.  Whilst  I  now  by 
degrees  seek  to  fdl  it  out,  it  has  for  the  first  time  forcibly 
struck  me,  that  one  could  strictly  write  a  tolerable  book  of 
travels  only  about  foreign  countries,  where  one  has  no  rela- 
tions with  anybody.  About  the  place  where  one  commonly 
resides,  no  one  would  venture  to  write  anything,  unless  it 

*  For  the  expressive  German  words  zerstreuon,  and  Zerstreuung, 
I  can  find  here  no  nearer  equivalents  than  distract  and  distraction. 


296 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


were  merely  the  enumeration  of  existing  objects ;  just  so 
it  is  with  whatever  is  in  some  measure  near  to  us,  one  feels 
that  it  were  a  sacrilege  if  one  should  publicly  utter  even  his 
most  just  and  moderate  judgment  about  things  :  these 
observations  lead  to  very  neat  results  and  show  me  the 
way  that  is  to  go.  Thus,  for  instance,  1  am  now  compar- 
ing the  theatre  here  with  that  in  Weimar  ;  when  I  shall 
have  besides  seen  that  of  Stuttgart,  something  general  may 
perhaps  be  said  about  the  three  that  will  be  important,  and 
that  at  any  rate  may  likewise  be  publicly  declared. 

Fare  you  well,  and  keep  yourself  in  health  and  in 
^  enjoyment  in  your  garden-house.  Greet  for  me  your  dear 
wife.  If  I  ever  once  more  reach  the  Jena  palace,  no  one 
will  quickly  drive  me  out  of  it.  It  is  well  that  I  have 
already  contributed  my  part  to  the  Almanac  of  the  Muses, 
for  on  the  journey  I  can  as  little  hope  to  meet  with  a  poem 
as  with  the  Phcenix. 

Once  more,  the  best  farewell, 
f 

Frankfort  on  the  Maine,  4th  Aug.,  1797. 

G. 

CCCXLVIf. 

Schmidt  from  Friedberg  has  been  with  me  ;  it  was 
not  a  disagreeable,  but  neither  was  it  a  beneficent  appari- 
tion. Upon  the  whole  a  handsome  young  man,  a  small 
head  on  moderate  shoulders,  admirable  feet  and  ancles, 
spruce,  cleanly,  neatly  dressed  according  to  the  fashion 
here,  his  features  small  and  close  together,  small  black 
eyes,  black  hair,  cut  close  to  the  head,  sans-culottishly. 
But  about  his  brow  the  father  of  the  gods  had  forged  a 
brazen  band.  With  his  mouth  he  made  extraordinary  dis- 
tortions, as  if  he  wished  to  give  to  what  he  said  a  certain 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


297 


additional  peculiar  expression.  He  is  the  son  of  a  thrifty- 
merchant,  who  designed  him  for  a  clergyman  ;  thereby  the 
man  was  shoved  entirely  out  of  his  path.  I  believe  that  if 
he  had  been  brought  up  to  some  circumscribed  way  of 
life  and  small  trafficking  business,  he  would  have  done  right 
well,  as  he  seems  to  have  energy  and  a  certain  inward- 
ness ;  I  should  like  best  to  see  him  in  a  national  guard. 
The  sequel  will  show,  but  I  fear  there  is  not  much  joy  to 
flow  from  his  life.  Considering  that  he  is  not  a  man  in 
straitened  circumstances,  but  one  who  from  his  talk,  his 
appearance  and  dress,  lives  in  moderate  comfort,  it  is  a 
bad  sign  that  no  trace  of  aspiration,  liberality,  love,  trust- 
fulness, showed  itself.  To  me  he  displayed  himself  in 
the  shallow  egotism  of  an  ex-student.  But  at  the  same 
time  no  trace  of  rawness,  nothing  awry  in  his  deportment, 
except  the  distortions  of  mouth. 

I  took  as  the  basis  of  my  treatment  that  you  sent  him  to 
me,  and  in  this  spirit  I  started  various  things,  but,  never- 
theless, nothing,  either  general  or  particular,  that  I  said, 
resounded  upon  him,  not  even  about  Reinholdt  and  Fichte, 
notwithstanding  that  he  has  heard  them  both.  I  could 
draw  nothing  of  moment  out  of  him,  except  that  a  year 
since  he  obtained  certain  views  of  the  world,  through 
which  he  feels  himself  inclined  to  poetry  (which,  indeed, 
might  be  very  well),  but  that  he  was  also  convinced  that 
true  culture  consists  only  in  a  certain  conjunction  of  philo- 
sophy and  poetry.  Against  which  I  have  nothing  to  say, 
if  only  I  had  not  to  hear  it  from  a  young  man.  For  the 
rest  he  went  away  as  he  came,  before  a  conversation  on 
any  one  subject  had  been  set  afoot,  and  was  to  me  for  this 
short  time  significant  enough.  In  his  reserved  manner  he 
reminded  me  of  Hölderlin,  although  he  is  taller  and  better 

13* 


298 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


made.  So  soon  as  I  have  seen  the  latter,  I  will  present 
you  with  a  closer  parallel.  As  in  the  course  of  my  life, 
particularly  in  former  times,  I  have  fallen  in  with  many 
characters  of  this  kind,  and  have  learnt  what  they  are 
strictly  worth,  I  will  further  add  a  general  remark.  Men 
out  of  the  mercantile  class,  who  addict  themselves  to  lite- 
rature, and  especially  to  poetry,  have  and  retain  a  peculiar 
tournure.  In  some  is  discernible  a  certain  earnestness 
and  heartiness,  a  certain  fixedness  of  purpose  and  tenacity, 
in  others  a  lively,  active  endeavor  ;  but  they  seem  to  me 
capable  of  no  exaltation,  nor  of  the  idea  whereon  it  de- 
pends. Perhaps  I  do  this  class  injustice,  and  there  are 
many  out  of  other  classes  with  whom  it  fares  no  better. 
Think  through  your  experience,  probably  some  exceptions 
will  be  found. 

It  is  mostly  the  habit  to  be  anxious  for  those  who  are 
in  motion,  and  oftentimes  it  should  be  the  reverse.  Thus, 
your  dear  letter  of  the  7th,  says  that  you  have  not  been 
well,  whilst  I  suffered  little  or  not  at  all  from  the  tempest. 
The  thunderstorms  cooled  the  air  in  the  night  and  morn- 
ing ;  we  started  very  early  ;  the  hottest  hours  of  the  day 
we  halted  to  feed  ;  and  when  even  some  portions  of  the 
way  were  made  in  the  warm  time  of  the  day,  for  the  most 
part  there  was  a  breeze  on  the  heights,  and  in  the  valleys 
where  brooks  run.  Suffice  it,  that  I  arrived  at  Frankfort 
with  small  inconvenience.  Here  I  might  now  again  ac- 
custom myself  to  the  life  of  a  large  city,  accustom  my- 
self not  only  to  travel,  but  to  live  while  travelling,  if  this 
were  not  totally  denied  to  me  by  fate  ;  for  I  feel  right  well 
that  my  nature  strives  only  after  coUectedness  and  harmo- 
nious moods,  and  has  no  enjoyment  in  anything  that 
hinders  these.    Had  I  not  in  my  Hermann  and  Dorothea 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


299 


an  example,  that  modern  subjects,  taken  in  a  certain  sense, 
adapt  themselves  to  the  Epic,  I  would  rather  have  nothing 
more  to  do  with  this  empiric  expanse.  On  the  stage,  as  I 
also  again  see  here,  there  were  at  the  present  moment 
much  to  do ;  but  one  would  have  to  take  it  lightly,  and 
handle  it  in  the  Gozzian  manner  ;  but  it  is  not  in  any  sense 
worth  the  trouble. 

Meyer  received  our  Ballads  very  well.  I  have  already 
had  several  letters  from  him  here,  because  from  Weimar 
I  wrote  him  weekly  letters  to  Staefa ;  his  is  a  pure,  truly 
forward-striding  nature,  invaluable  in  every  sense.  I  will 
but  hasten  to  get  possession  of  him  once  more  in  person, 
and  then  not  let  him  from  me  again. 

I  heartily  pity  the  old  man*  on  the  Topf  berg,  that  he  is 
doomed,  through  God  knows  what  strange  temper,  to 
obstruct  the  path  of  himself  and  others  on  his  own  ground. 
There  I  like  a  thousand  times  better  the  Frankfort  bankers, 
merchants,  brokers,  traders,  Jews,  gamblers  and  jobbers, 
who  at  any  rate  bring  somewhat  to  pass  for  themselves, 
although  they  trip  up  other  people's  heels.  Nicholas 
Pesce,  as  well  as  I  can  recollect,  is  the  hero  of  the  tale 
that  you  have  treated,  a  diver  by  trade.  But,  if  our  old 
friend  with  such  an  execution  of  the  subject  can  still  call 
to  mind  the  chronicle  which  relates  the  story,  how  can  we 
blame  the  rest  of  the  public  if  with  novels  they  ask — 
whether,  then,  all  that  is  really  true  ?  Just  as  remarkable 
an  example  is  Diderot,  who,  with  so  high  a  genius,  with 
such  deep  feeling  and  clear  understanding,  could  not  get 
to  see,  that  culture  through  Art  must  go  its  own  way,  that 
it  cannot  be  subordinated  to  any  other  culture,  that  it  at- 


*  Herder. 


300 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


taches  itself  so  aptly  to  every  other,  &c.,  all  which  never- 
theless were  easy  to  comprehend,  because  the  fact  stands 
out  so  prominently. 

Poor  T.  cuts  a  very  ridiculous  figure,  who,  after  having 
sung  and  twittered  his  whole  lifetime,  just  as  kind  Nature 
had  shaped  his  throat  and  beak,  is  now  striving  to  stretch 
out  his  individuality  by  means  of  the  rack  of  the  new 
philosophical  exactions,  and  drags  his  beggarly  jacket  on 
the  ground,  in  order  to  give  assurance  that  he  has  in  his 
wardrobe  just  such  a  royal  mantle.  I  will  immediately 
despatch  the  cxpos6  to  Meyer.  And  yet  these  men,  who 
can  believe  that  what  is  naught  in  our  Art  is  all,  are  better 
off  than  we  others,  who  are  more  or  less  convinced  that 
the  all  of  our  Art  is  naught. 

A  sceptical  materialism  beseems  a  traveller.  What  is 
left  in  me  of  the  ideal,  is  carried  in  a  well-locked  casket, 
like  that  Undinian  pigmy-woman  ;  you  will,  therefore, 
have  patience  with  me  in  this  respect.  Probably  I  shall 
be  able  to  write  down  for  you  every  little  incident  on  the 
journey.  I  will,  however,  first  wait  for  a  couple  of  months  : 
for,  although  in  the  empirical  world  almost  everything  has 
by  itself  a  disagreeable  effect  on  me,  nevertheless  the 
whole  does  very  well,  when  one  at  last  comes  to  a  clear 
consciousness  of  one's  self.  Fare  you  well,  and  interpret 
for  yourself,  as  you  know  me,  my  often  strange  words  : 
for  it  were  impossible  for  me  to  rectify  myself,  and  to 
bring  these  rhapsodical  fancies  into  any  connection  or 
consistency. 

Greet  for  me  your  dear  wife,  and  hold  in  good  estima- 
tion your  Agnes  and  Amelia.  One  does  not  know  what 
one  has  in  such  beings,  until  one  looks  about  for  their  like 
in  the  broad  world.    You,  my  friend,  have  the  gift  to  be 


SCHILLER   A:^D  G012THE. 


301 


effective  as  an  instructor,  which,  to  mc,  is  totally  denied ; 
these  two  pupils  will,  I  am  sure,  yet  bring  much  to  pass, 
if  they  will  only  communicate  their  views,  and,  in  regard 
to  the  disposition  of  the  whole,  get  a  deeper  insight  into 
the  fundamental  requirements  of  Art. 

CCCXLVIII. 

Frankfort,  14th  August,  1797. 

Yesterday  I  witnessed  the  representation  of  the  opera 
Palmyra,  which,  upon  the  whole,  was  very  well  and  be- 
comingly given.  In  particular  I  had  the  pleasure  of  see- 
ing one  department  quite  perfect,  namely,  the  scenery ;  it 
is  by  a  Milanese,  Fuentes,  who  is  at  present  here.  With 
scenic  architecture  there  is  the  great  difficulty,  that  one 
must  have  a  knowledge  of  the  principles  of  genuine  archi- 
tecture, and  yet  at  the  same  time  depart  from  them  to 
attain  the  end  in  view.  Architecture,  in  the  higher  sense, 
ought  to  have  an  earnest,  lofty,  steadfast  character  and  ex- 
pression— it  can  scarcely -give  into  the  graceful  without 
becoming  weak — but,  on  the  stage,  everything  should 
have  a  graceful  air.  Theatrical  architecture  should  be 
light,  ornamental,  diversified,  and  yet  at  the  same  time  it 
ought  to  represent  the  gorgeous,  the  elevated,  the  noble. 
The  scenes,  particularly  the  backgrounds,  ought  always 
to  make  pictures  ;  the  scene  painter  must  go  a  step  further 
than  the  landscape  painter,  who  likewise  knov/s  how  to 
modify  architecture  according  to  his  wants.  The  scenes 
in  Palmyra  give  examples,  from  which  the  rules  of  scene 
painting  might  be  deduced  ;  there  are  six  scenes  which 
follow  one  another  in  two  acts,  without  any  one  being  re- 
peated ;  they  are  invented  with  very  judicious  variety  and 
gradation.    One  sees  from  them  that  the  artist  is  ac- 


302 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


quainted  with  all  the  resources  of  genuine  architecture  ; 
even  where  he  builds  as  would  not  and  should  not  be  built, 
everything  nevertheless  retains  the  appearance  of  possi- 
bility, and  all  his  structures  are  grounded  on  the  idea  of 
what  is  required  in  the  real.  His  embellishments  are 
very  rich,  but  introduced  and  distributed  with  pure  taste. 
In  these  is  visible  the  great  stucco  school,  which  exists 
in  Milan,  and  of  which  a  knowledge  can  be  got  in  the 
prints  of  AlbertoUi.  All  proportions  tend  to  the  slender, 
all  figures,  statues,  bas-reliefs,  painted  lookers-on  likewise  ; 
but  the  extraordinary  length,  and  violent  postures  of  many 
figures,  are  not  mannerism,  but  necessity  and  taste  have 
so  required  them.  The  coloring  is  irreproachable,  and 
the  style  of  painting  remarkably  free  and  decisive.  All 
the  deceptions  of  perspective,  all  the  attractions  of  masses 
directed  towards  certain  points,  are  displayed  in  these 
works.  The  parts  are  perfectly  distinct  and  clear,  with- 
out being  hard,  and  the  whole  is  in  the  most  admirable 
keeping.  One  beholds  the  studies  of  a  great  school,  and 
the  transmitted  accumulations  of  several  generations  in 
the  endless  details,  and  one  is  authorized  to  say  that  here 
this  Art  has  reached  its  highest  point ;  it  is  only  a  pity 
that  the  man's  health  is  so  feeble  that  his  life  is  despaired 
of.  I  will  see  to  putting  better  together  and  developing 
what  I  have  here  hastily  thrown  out. 

And  so  farewell,  and  let  me  hear  from  you  soon.  I 
have  been  often  with  you  on  your  still  height,  and  when  it 
rains  hard  I  recollect  the  purling  of  the  Leutra  and  its 
gutters. 

I  will  not  return  until  I  at  least  feel  a  surfeit  of  the  em- 
pirical, as  we  cannot  conceive  of  a  totality.  Fare  you 
right  well,  and  greet  all. 

G. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


303 


CCCXLIX. 
^  Frankfort,  16th  August,  1797. 

I  HAVE  fallen  upon  a  thought,  the  which,  because  it  may- 
become  important  for  the  rest  of  my  journey,  I  will  at 
once  communicate  to  you,  in  order  to  hear  your  opinion  as 
to  how  far  it  may  be  correct,  and  how  far  I  shall  do  well 
to  surrender  myself  to  its  guidance  ?  Whilst  I  went  my 
quiet  and  cold  way  of  observer,  nay,  of  mere  seer,  I  very 
soon  remarked  that  the  account  I  gave  myself  of  certain 
objects,  had  a  kind  of  sentimentality,  which  struck  me  to 
that  degree  that  I  was  instantly  moved  to  reflect  upon  its 
cause,  and  I  found  the  following.  In  general,  that  which 
I  see  and  experience  attaches  itself  right  well  to  all  my 
other  knowledge,  and  is  not  disagreeable  to  me,  because  it 
goes  into  the  general  mass  of  what  I  know,  and  helps  to 
increase  the  capital.  On  the  other  hand,  I  could  not 
name  anything  in  the  whole  journey,  that  has  in  any  way 
excited  my  sensibility,  but  I  am  now  as  calm  and  unmoved 
as  I  always  have  been  amidst  the  commonest  circumstan- 
ces and  incidents.  Whence  therefore  this  apparent  sen- 
timentality, which  to  me  is  the  more  remarkable,  because, 
for  a  long  time  I  have  felt  no  trace  of  it  in  my  nature, 
except  the  poetic  mood.  Might  there  not  therefore  in  this 
case  be  the  poetic  state  in  connection  with  an  object  that 
is  not  entirely  poetic,  whereby  is  produced  a  certain  mid- 
dle condition? 

I  have  therefore  attentively  considered  the  objects  that 
produce  such  an  effect,  and  to  my  astonishment  observed 
that  they  are  in  fact  symbolical,  that  is,  as  I  scarcely  need 
say,  they  are  eminent  cases,  which  in  a  characteristic 
manifoldness  stand  for  the  representatives  of  many  others, 
embrace  in  themselves  a  certain  totality,  require  a  certain 


304 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


sequence,  excite  in  my  mind  things  similar  and  foreign, 
and  thus  from  without  as  from  within  make  pretension  to  a 
certain  unity  and  universality.  What  a  happy  subject  is 
to  the  poet  they  are  to  the  man,  and  as  in  recapitulating 
them  to  one's  self,  one  cannot  give  them  any  poetic  form, 
one  must  nevertheless  give  them  an  ideal  one,  a  human  in 
the  higher  sense,  what  with  a  so  very  misused  term  I 
called  sentimental.  And  you  will  therefore  not  laugh,  but 
only  smile,  when,  to  my  own  astonishment,  I  tell  you,  that 
if  I  should  note  down  anything  from  my  travels  for  friends 
or  for  the  public,  I  probably  shall  be  in  danger  of  writing 
sentimental  travels.  Yet  I  would  not,  as  you  well  know 
me,  fear  any  word,  even  the  most  decried,  if  the  treatment 
justified  me,  nay,  if  I  could  be  so  fortunate  as  to  restore  to 
a  decried  word  its  dignity. 

I  refer  you  to  what  you  have  yourself  so  beautifully  un- 
folded, to  what  is  the  habitual  use  of  language  between  us, 
and  proceed.  When  is  a  sentimental  object  (which  we 
may  not  despise,  however  troublesome  it  be)  intolera- 
ble ?  I  answer,  when  the  ideal  is  directly  united  with  the 
common.  This  can  only  happen  through  an  empty  form- 
less manner,  for  both  are  thereby  annihilated,  the  idea  and 
the  object ;  the  former,  which  can  only  be  significant,  and 
busy  itself  with  what  is  significant,  and  the  latter,  which 
can  be  right  stirring,  stout  and  good,  without  being  signi- 
ficant. 

So  far  I  have  found  only  two  such  objects  ;  the  public 
square  on  which  I  live,  Avhich,  as  respects  its  position  and 
all  that  takes  place  upon  it,  is  at  every  moment  symbolical ; 
and  the  area  of  my  grandfather's  house,  yard,  and  garden, 
which,  from  the  contracted  patriarchal  condition  in  which 
an  old  magistrate  of  Frankfort  lived,  was  through  shrewd 


SCHILLER   AND  GOKTHi:. 


305 


enterprising  men  changed  into  a  useful  place  for  goods  and 
markets.  Through  sinoular  casualties  the  establishment 
went  down  at  the  time  of  the  bombardment,  and  is  now, 
although  mostly  a  heap  of  rubbish,  worth  notwithstanding, 
double  of  what  eleven  years  ago  was  paid  by  the  present 
proprietors  to  my  family.  In  so  far  as  it  is  easy  to  con- 
ceive that  the  whole  be  again  bought  and  re-established 
by  a  new  undertaker,  you  readily  perceive  that  especially 
for  me  it  must  stand  there  as  symbol  of  many  thousand 
other  cases  in  this  thriving,  trafficking  city. 

In  this  case  there  is  to  be  sure  the  addition  of  a  very 
cherished  recollection ;  but  if,  made  heedful  by  those 
cases,  I  shall  in  future,  as  I  proceed  on  my  journey,  direct 
my  attention  not  so  much  to  the  remarkable  but  to  the  sig- 
nificant, I  should  not  fail  to  reap  for  myself  and  others  a 
fine  harvest.  I  will  try  here  further  what  I  can  observe 
that  is  symbolical,  but  practise  myself  particularly  on 
strange  places,  which  I  see  for  the  first  time.  Should  that 
succeed,  without  wishing  to  pursue  the  trial  very  exten- 
sively, if  on  every  public  square,  in  every  moment,,  one 
went  deeply  into  the  matter,  so  far  as  it  were  given  one  to 
go,  one  could  not  fail  to  carry  off  booty  enough  yet  out  of 
well-known  lands  and  regions. 

Tell  me  v/hat  you  think  of  this  in  order  that  I  may  be 
expanded,  confirmed,  invigorated  and  cheered.  The  mat- 
ter is  important,  for  it  cancels  at  once  and  happily  the  con- 
tradiction which  lay  between  my  nature  and  experience, 
which  formerly  I  could  never  solve.  For  I  acknowledge 
to  you  that  I  would  rather  have  returned  directly  home,  to 
work  out  of  the  centre  of  my  own  being  all  kinds  of  phan- 
toms, rather  than  (inasmuch  as  it  is  not  given  to  me  to 
count  up  individual  facts)  have  buffeted  with  the  million- 


306 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


faced  hydra  of  Empiricisin  ;  for  whoever  cannot  look  for 
enjoyment  and  advantage  from  it,  should  withdraw  in  good 
time. 

So  much  for  to-day,  although  I  have  an  important  kin- 
dred chapter  to  treat  of,  which  I  shall  on  the  next  occasion 
take  up,  and  shall  beg  you  to  give  me  your  thoughts  upon 
it  likewise.  Fare  you  right  well,  greet  your  family  for 
me,  and  let  no  one,  except  those  nearest  to  you,  know  or 
learn  anything  of  my  letters. 

Frankfort,  17th  August,  1797. 

G. 

CCCL. 

Jena,  17lh  August,  1797. 

The  picture  which  you  give  me  of  Frankfort  and  of 
large  cities  in  general  is  not  encouraging  either  for  the 
poet  or  for  the  philosopher,  but  its  truth  is  vividly  evident ; 
and  as  it  is  an  established  point,  that  a  man  philosophizes 
and  poetizes  only  for  himself,  there  is,  therefore,  nothing 
to  be  said  against  it ;  on  the  contrary,  it  confirms  one  in 
the  good  way  already  entered  on,  and  cuts  off  every 
attempt  to  make  use  of  poetry  for  anything  outward. 

From  my  little  experience,  thus  much  has  become  clear 
to  me,  that,  upon  the  whole,  one  cannot  through  poetry  make 
people  happy,  but  on  the  contrary,  very  uncomfortable,  and  it 
seems  to  me  that  where  the  one  is  not  to  be  attained,  there 
we  should  aim  for  the  other.  One  must  incommode  them, 
destroy  their  self-satisfaction,  put  them  into  a  state  of  un- 
easiness and  astonishment.  Poetry  must  cither  confront 
them  as  a  Genius  or  a  Spectre.  Only  thereby  do  they 
learn  to  believe  in  the  existence  of  Poetry  and  get  to 
respect  the  Poet.  I  have  moreover  nowhere  found  this 
respect  greater  than  in  this  class  of  people,  although  no- 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


307 


where  so  unfruitful  and  so  without  inward  feeling.  Some- 
thing there  is  in  all  that  speaks  for  the  poet,  and  however 
unbelieving  a  realist  you  may  be,  you  must  nevertheless 
concede  to  me  that  this  X  is  the  seed  of  idealism,  and  that 
nothing  but  this  prevents  real  life  with  its  common  empiri- 
cism from  annihilating  all  susceptibility  for  the  poetical. 
It  is  indeed  true,  that  the  genuine  poetical  and  aesthetic 
condition  of  mind  is  far  from  being  thereby  encouraged  5 
that  it  is  rather  often  prevented  thereby,  just  as  freedom  is 
through  moral  tendencies  ;  but  much  is  already  gained 
that  an  egress  out  of  empiricism  is  opened. 

AVith  my  protege,  Mr.  Smith,  I  have,  I  see,  acquired 
little  honor,  but  I  will  hope  the  best  so  long  as  I  can.  I 
happen  to  be  in  that  desperate  state,  that  it  must  be  of 
moment  to  me  whether  other  people  are  worth  anything, 
and  whether  something  can  be  made  out  of  them  ;  there- 
fore, I  will  give  up  these  Schmidts  and  Hoelderlins  as  late 
as  possible. 

Mr.  Smith,  as  he  now  is,  is  indeed  the  counterpart-cari- 
cature of  the  Frankfort  empirical  world,  and  as  this  has  not 
time  to  go  into  itself,  so  he  and  his  like  cannot  go  out  of 
themselves.  In  the  one  case,  I  might  say,  we  see  sensi- 
bility enough,  but  no  object  for  it ;  in  the  other  the  naked 
empty  object  without  sensibility.  And  thus  these  are  eve- 
rywhere only  materials  for  a  man  such  as  the  poet  needs, 
but  they  are  scattered  and  have  not  taken  hold  of  one 
another. 

I  should  like  to  know  whether  these  Schmidts,  these 
Richters,  these  Hoelderlins,  are  absolutely,  and  would 
under  all  circumstances  have  remained,  so  subjective,  so 
overstrained,  so  monosyllabic  ?  Whether  it  is  owing  to 
r)Omething  primitive,  or  whether  only  the  want  of  an 


308 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


aesthetic  nourishment  and  influence  from  without,  and  the 
opposition  of  an  empiric  world  in  which  they  live  to  their 
ideal  tendency,  has  produced  this  unhappy  effect  ?  I  äm 
much  inclined  to  believe  the  latter,  and  although  a  power- 
ful and  happy  nature  triumphs  over  everything,  it  yet 
seems  to  me,  that  many  a  brave  talent  is  lost  in  this  way. 

It  is  certainly  a  very  true  remark  you  make,  that  a  cer- 
tain earnestness  and  heartiness,  but  no  freedom,  calmness 
and  clearness,  are  to  be  met  with  in  those  of  a  certain  class 
who  take  to  poetry.  Earnestness  and  heartiness  are  the 
necessary  natural  consequence  when  an  inclination  and 
occupation  finds  contradiction  ;  and  the  merchant's  son  who 
makes  poems,  must  already  be  capable  of  a  greater  degree 
of  heartiness  than  common  in  order  to  have  struck  into  such 
a  path.  But  it  is  just  as  natural  that  he  should  turn  moi-e 
to  the  moral  than  to  the  aesthetic  side,  because  he  feels  with 
passionate  violence,  because  he  is  driven  into  himself,  and 
because  objects  rather  repel  than  hold  him  fast,  so  that  he 
can  never  attain  to  a  clear  and  calm  survey  of  them. 

On  the  other  hand,  as  confirmation  of  your  remark,  I 
find  that  those  who  betake  themselves  to  poetry  out  of  a 
liberal  condition,  display  a  certain  freedom,  clearness,  and 
lightness,  but  little  earnestness  and  heartiness.  With  the 
former,  the  characteristic  stands  out  almost  to  the  extent  of 
caricature,  and  always  with  a  certain  one-sidedness  and 
hardness  ;  with  the  latter,  want  of  the  characteristic,  flat- 
ness, and  almost  shallowness  are  to  be  feared.  I  should 
say  that  the  latter  are  nearer  to  the  aesthetic  in  form,  the 
former  in  substance.  On  a  comparison  between  our  Jena 
and  Weimar  poetesses  T  have  hit  upon  observations  which 
I  purpose  hereafter  communicating  to  you. 

I  informed  you  that  I  had  told  A.  my  mind  in  a  letter, 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


300 


and  that  I  was  anxious  to  have  his  answer.  He  has  now 
written  to  me,  and  is  very  thankful  for  my  candor.  But 
how  Uttle  can  be  done  for  him  I  perceive  from  this,  that  he 
enclosed  me  the  leaf  containing  the  table  of  contents  of  his 
Poems,  which  none  but  a  lunatic  can  have  written.  Cer- 
tain people  are  not  to  be  helped,  and  especially  not  he 
whose  brow  God  has  encircled  with  a  brazen  band. 

At  last  you  receive  the  Ihycus.  May  you  be  satisfied 
with  it.  I  acknowledge  that  on  nearer  examination  of  the 
subject  I  found  more  difficulties  than  I  at  first  expected ; 
however,  I  think  I  have  for  the  most  part  overcome  them. 
The  two  chief  points  whereon  a  successful  execution 
hung,  seemed  to  me,  first,  to  bring  into  the  narration  a 
continuity  which  the  rude  fable  had  not  ;  and,  secondly, 
to  create  the  mood  for  the  eflfect.  I  have  not  yet  been 
able  to  put  the  last  hand  to  it,  as  I  only  got  through  last 
evening  ;  and  I  am  very  desirous  that  you  read  the  Ballad 
at  once,  in  order  that  I  may  make  use  of  your  remarks. 
The  most  agreeable  thing  to  me  would  be  to  hear,  that  in 
the  essential  points  I  have  met  your  views. 

Herewith  are  also  two  specimen  sheets  of  the  Almanac. 
My  next  letter  to  you  I  shall  enclose  directly  to  Cotta,  as 
I  presume  that  towards  the  end  of  the  month  you  will  be 
no  longer  in  Frankfort. 

For  eight  days  past  my  health  has  been  better,  and  in 
my  house,  likewise,  all  are  well.  My  wife  greets  you 
heartily.  From  the  Humboldts  I  have  heard  nothing  fur- 
ther since  their  departure  from  Dresden.  Out  of  the 
remains  of  Gotter  I  have  received  his  Opera,  the  Island  of 
Spirits,  taken  from  Shakspeare's  Tempest.  I  have  read 
the  first  Act,  which  is  very  weak  and  a  meagre  dish.  I, 
however,  thank  Heaven  that  I  have  some  sheets  in  the 


310 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


Hören  to  fill  up,  and  that,  too,  with  so  classical  a  writer, 
who,  before  his  death,  complained  so  bitterly  of  the  Xenia. 
And  thus  then  we  force  Gotter,  who,  living,  would  have 
nothing  to  do  with  the  Horen,  to  stalk  therein,  dead. 
Farewell ;  let  me  soon  again  hear  from  you. 

SCH. 

CCCLI. 

Frankfort,  22d  August,  1797. 

Your  rich  and  beautiful  parcel  was  yet  in  time  to  reach 
me  here.  In  a  few  days  I  expect  to  go  away,  and  can 
still  from  this  say  to  you  a  few  words  about  the  contents. 

The  Almanac  makes  already  an  imposing  show,  espe- 
cially when  one  knows  what  is  yet  to  come.  The  narra- 
tive poems  give  it  a  peculiar  character. 

The  Cranes  of  Ibycus  I  find  very  well  done  ;  the  transi- 
tion to  the  Theatre  is  very  fine,  and  the  Chorus  of  the 
Eumenides  in  the  right  place.  This  turn  being  now  dis- 
covered, the  whole  fable  can  no  longer  stand  without  it, 
and  I  should  likewise  be  obliged  to  adopt  this  chorus,  if  I 
could  still  think  of  treating  the  subject.*  ^ 

Upon  the  genuine  condition  of  an  observing  traveller,  I 
have  now  my  own  experience,  and  I  have  discerned 
wherein  very  often  lies  the  fault  of  books  of  travels.  Let  a 
man  place  himself  as  he  will,  yet  in  a  journey  he  sees 
things  only  from  one  side,  and  is  hasty  in  judgment ;  but, 
on  the  other  hand,  he  sees  things  from  this  side  in  a  very 
lively  manner,  and  his  judgment  is  in  a  certain  sense  cor- 
rect.    I  have,  therefore,  had  a  blank  book  made,  into 

*  From  this,  and  from  a  passage  in  a  former  letter,  it  seems  that 
Goethe  had  had  the  project  of  a  poem  on  the  same  subject.  As  my 
readers  have  not  Schiller's  poem  before  them,  I  omit  from  Goethe's 
letter  a  page  of  minute  criticism. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


311 


which  I  stitch  all  kinds  of  public  papers  that  just  now  fall 
in  my  way,  newspapers  (daily  and  weekly),  extracts  from 
sermons,  ordinances,  play-bills,  price-currents,  and  then  I 
add  as  well  what  I  see  and  remark,  as  also  my  judgment 
at  the  moment ;  I  then  talk  of  these  things  in  company, 
and  bring  forward  my  opinion,  and  thus  I  soon  see  in  how 
far  I  am  well-informed,  and  in  how  far  my  judgment  coin- 
cides with  the  judgment  of  well-informed  men.  I  then 
add  likewise  this  new  experience  and  instruction  to  the 
other  papers,  and  thus  there  are  materials  which  in  future 
must  be  interesting  enough  as  history  of  the  outward  and 
inward.  If,  with  my  previous  knowledge  and  my  mental 
practice,  I  choose  to  continue  for  awhile  this  handiwork, 
I  can  collect  a  large  mass. 

I  have  already  discovered  one  or  two  poetical  subjects, 
which  I  shall  lay  up  in  my  heart ;  and  then  one  can  never 
know  in  the  first  moment  what  in  the  sequel  will  separate 
itself  from  the  rough  experience  as  true  substance. 

With  all  this  I  will  not  deny  that  oftentimes  I  have  a 
yearning  towards  the  banks  of  the  Saal,  and  were  I  trans- 
ported thither  to-day,  I  should  be  able  at  once,  without  so 
much  as  a  look  backward,  to  begin  my  Faust  or  some  other 
poetical  work. 

Of  Wallenstein,  you  think,  I  suppose,  at  present,  little 
or  not  at  all,  as  the  Almanac  must  be  provided  for.  Let 
me  hear  something  of  it  whenever  you  get  further  for- 
ward. 

The  Theatre  here  is,  in  a  certain  sense,  not  bad,  but 
much  too  weakly  provided  with  actors ;  it  suffered,  it  is 
true,  a  year  since,  a  very  hard  shock ;  I  really  do  not 
know  what  piece  of  value  and  dignity  they  could  now  play 
here  tolerably. 


312 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


CCCLII. 

Frankfort,  23d  August,  1797. 

Yesterday  Iloeldeiiin  was  with  me  ;  he  looks  some- 
what depressed  and  sickly,  but  he  is  very  pleasing  and 
open  with  modesty,  nay  with  timidity.  He  entered  upon 
several  topics  in  a  manner  which  betrayed  your  school ; 
many  leading  ideas  he  had  appropriated  to  himself  right 
well,  so  that  he  could  also  again  easily  take  up  many 
things.  I  particularly  advised  him  to  make  small  poems, 
and  to  select  for  each  a  subject  with  a  human  interest. 
He  seemed  still  to  have  some  inclination  towards  the  mid- 
dle ages,  in  which  I  could  not  confirm  him  I  shall  not 
see  Captain  Steigentesh.  He  goes  and  comes ;  my  in- 
quiries have  missed  him  several  times,  and  a  note  which 
I  left  for  him  the  last  time,  he  will  probably  receive  after 
my  departure.  Greet  your  dear  wife,  and  our  poetic  fe- 
male friends.  I  have  always  hoped  to  be  able  yet  to  send 
you  something  for  the  Almanac  ;  perhaps  the  Swabian  air, 
will  be  more  fruitful.  It  is  only  on  leaving  this  that  I  go 
properly  into  a  foreign  land,  and  shall  long  the  more 
eagerly  to  find  a  letter  from  you  at  Cotta's. 

G. 

CCCLIII. 

Frankfort,  24th  August,  1797. 

Before  leaving  this,  I  will  tell  you  of  a  work  I  have 
begun,  and  which  will  do  well  for  the  Horen.    I  have  be- 
fore me  about  two  hundred  French  satirical  engravings  ; 
I  have  at  once  classed  them,  and  find  them  directed  : 
I.  Against  foreign  countries, 
a.  England. 
h.  The  Pope. 
c.  Austria. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


313 


II.  Against  themselves, 
a.  The  old  reign  of  terror. 
h.  Follies  of  Fashion. 

1 .  Represented  in  their  exaggeration. 

2.  In  relation  to  one  another. 

3.  In  relation  to  antiquated  follies. 

4.  In  relation  to  finance  or  other  political  matters. 
c.  Against  enemies  of  artists. 

I  have  now  begun  to  describe  them  singly,  and  it  goes 
very  w^ell ;  for  as  they  mostly  address  something  to 
thought,  are  witty,  symbolical,  allegorical,  they  tell  as 
well  and  even  better  to  the  imagination  than  to  the  eye. 
Thus  one  can  make  very  good  remarks  about  French 
genius  and  art  in  general,  and  although  one  neither  can 
nor  will  imitate  Lichtenberg,  nevertheless  the  single  pic- 
tures present  themselves  very  gaily  and  airily,  so  that  they 
will  be  very  pleasant  reading.  In  Switzerland  I  shall,  no 
doubt,  find  others,  and  perhaps  the  earlier  ones.  Out  of 
this  a  very  pretty  article  would  grow  up,  through  which 
the  October  number  would  get  a  considerable  contribution. 
In  the  Mercury  and  Journal  of  Fashion,  and  elsewhere, 
some  have  already  been  inserted,  which  I  now  embrace  in 
the  whole  mass.  I  hope  that  various  things  of  this  and  a 
like  sort  will  turn  up  on  the  journey,  and  that  from  Octo- 
ber on  I  shall  be  able  to  furnish  some  lively  contributions  ; 
for  after  all,  one  has  only  to  take  it  in  hand,  and  then  it 
will  be  done.  The  present  Almanac  gives  me  double 
pleasure,  for  we  have  brought  it  into  being  by  sheer  will 
£^nd  resolution.  If  you  will  but  go  on  cheering  your  poetic 
friends  of  both  sexes  and  keep  them  active,  we  shall  then 
only  have  to  set  ourselves  down  together  again  next  spring 
for  four  weeks,  and  the  next  one  will  also  be  completed, 

14 


ol4  CORRESPOXDEXCE  BETWEEN 

Farewell,  and  write  me  often  and  much.  My  trmik  is 
gone  to  Stuttgart,  and  if  the  weather,  which  for  some  time 
has  heen  rainy,  cold,  and  gloomy,  clears  up  again  as  it 
promises  to  do,  I  shall  have  the  horses  put  to.  I  should 
like  to  have  a  very  fair  day  for  the  "mountain-road." 

G. 

CCCLIV. 

Jena,  30lh  August,  1797. 

I  BELIEVED  myself  on  the  road  of  improvement  when 
last  wrote  to  you,  but  for  eight  days  past  I  have  been  suf- 
fering with  a  catarrhal  fever  and  an  obstinate  coug 
which  rages  in  my  whole  household.    The  fever  has  le 
me  in  quiet  to-day,  but  the  cough  torments  me  very  much 
and  ray  head  is  racked.    I  wished  only  to  mention  this 
my  dear  friend,  in  excuse  for  my  silence. 

We  await  news  from  you  with  longing,  and  would  lik 
to  know  where  we  have  now  to  look  for  you.  Here  wit 
you  receive  new  sample  sheets. 

Your  dear  letter,  which  I  received  on  the  20th,  I  must 
defer  answering  until  my  head  gets  clear  again. 

Even  on  your  journey  I  must  plague  you,  dear  friend 
Do  think  at  times  of  the  Horen,  whether  the  journe 
itself  could  not  furnish  something  to  it.  The  need  i 
great,  and  now  the  more  so  as  I  myself  am  unfit  for  an 
helpful  work.  With  such  interruptions  I  shall  have  trou 
ble  to  find  time  and  mood  for  my  Bell^  which  is  yet  fa 
from  being  cast. 

Fare  you  well  and  cheerful,  and  continue  to  give  me 
life  from  a  distance.  We  and  all  that  belongs  to  us  think 
of  you  with  the  heartiest  interest.  My  wife  greets  you  a 
thousand  times.  Farewell. 

SCH. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


315 


A  few  minutes  since  your  last  letter  came  in  to  our 
great  and  unexpected  joy.  Hearty  thanks  for  what  you 
say  of  the  Ibycus,  and  whatever  of  your  suggestions  I 
can  follow,  I  shall  certainly  do  so.  On  this  occasion 
again  I  have  been  made  very  sensible  of  how  much  is 
done  even  in  invention  by  a  vivid  knowledge. 

Once  more,  thanks  for  your  letter.  If  my  state  will 
permit  it,  I  will  write  to  you  the  day  after  to-morrow. 

Fare  you  right  well. 

SCH. 

CCCLV. 

Stuttgart,  30th  August,  1797. 

After"  having  last  night  often  invoked  you  for  your 
support,  as  the  patron  saint  of  all  the  children  of  men 
who  suffer  from  sleeplessness,  and  also  felt  myself  really 
strengthened  by  your  example  to  survive  one  of  the  worst 
of  bug-adventures  in  the  belly  of  the  Roman  Emperor  ;* 
it  is  now  in  conformity  with  my  vow  to  inform  you  imme- 
diately of  my  condition. 

On  the  25th  I  left  Frankfort,  and  had  a  pleasant  drive 
under  a  covered  sky  to  Heidelberg,  where,  with  a  perfectly 
clear  sunshine,  I  spent  nearly  all  the  next  day  in  behold- 
ing the  country  with  ecstacy. 

On  the  27th  I  set  off  very  early,  rested^ during  the  heat 
in  Sinzheim,  and  arrived  still  early  enough  at  Heilbronn. 
This  town  with  its  environs  interested  me  much  ;  I 
remained  there  the  28th,  and  on  the  29th  started  so  early 
that  already  by  nine  o'clock  I  was  in  Ludwigsburg  ;  in 
the  evening  at  five  I  again  drove  off,  and  at  sundown  arrived 


Probably  the  name  of  an  Inn. 


31G 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


at  Stuttgart,  which,  in  its  circle  of  mountains,  lay  serene- 
ly in  the  twilight. 

This  morning,  early,  I  made,  alone,  a  rapid  survey  of 
the  town  ;  its  situation,  as  well  as  particularly  its  avenues, 
please  me  very  well.  In  Mr.  Rapp  I  found  a  very  amia- 
ble man  and  valuable  amateur  of  Art ;  he  has  aright  pretty 
talent  for  landscape  drawing,  good  knowledge  and  practice. 
We  went  merely  to  Professor  Dannecker's,  where  I  found 
a  Hector  who  upbraids  Paris,  a  model  executed  in  plaster 
somewhat  above  the  size  of  life,  likewise  a  reclining, 
naked,  female  figure,  in  the  character  of  the  love-sick 
Sappho,  finished  in  plaster  and  begun  in  marble  ;  further, 
a  small  mourning,  sitting  figure,  for  a  monument  in  a  room. 
I  saw  further  with  him  the  model  in  plaster  of  a  head  of 
the  present  Duke,  which,  particularly  in  marble,  is  said  to 
be  very  successfully  executed,  as  also  his  own  bust,  which 
is  full  of  genius  and  life  without  exaggeration.  But  what 
particularly  struck  me  was  the  original  cast  of  your  bust, 
which  has  such  truth  and  finish,  that  it  really  creates 
astonishment.  The  cast  which  you  possess  gives  no  idea 
of  this  work.  The  marble  is  to  be  cut  after  it,  and  if  the 
execution  is  successful,  there  will  be  a  very  significant 
piece  of  sculpture.  I  saw  also  small  models  quite  cleverly 
conceived  and  sketched ;  only  he  fails  there  where  our 
moderns  all  fait,  in  the  choice  of  subjects.  This  topic 
which  we  have  so  often  discussed,  and  lastly  again  on 
occasion  of  the  treatise  on  Laocoon,  always  presents  itself 
to  me  in  its  higher  importance.  When  shall  we  poor 
Artists  of  these  latter  times  lift  ourselves  up  to  this  chief 
idea ! 

I  likewise  saw  with  him  a  vase  of  grey  striped  alabas- 
ter, by  Isopi,  of  whom  Wolzogen  told  us  so  much.  It 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


317 


exceeds,  however,  all  description,  and  no  one  can,  without 
beholding  it,  form  a  conception  of  this  perfection  of  work. 
The  stone,  in  respect  to  color,  is  not  favorable,  but  so 
much  the  more  in  its  substance.  As  it  can  be  more  easily 
wrought  than  marble,  things  are  possible  in  it  to  which 
marble  would  not  adapt  itself.  If  Cellini,  as  is  to  be  pre- 
sumed, thus  designed  and  finished  his  leaves  and  orna- 
ments, one  cannot  take  it  ill  of  him  if  he  himself  speaks 
of  his  work  with  ecstacy. 

They  have  begun  to  rebuild  the  portion  of  the  palace 
which  was  burnt  down  under  Duke  Charles,  just  as  it  was 
finished,  and  they  are  now  at  work  on  the  cornices  and 
ceilings.  Isopi  models  the  parts,  which  are  then  cast  and 
set  in  by  other  workmen.  His  decorations  are  very  spirit- 
ed and  tasteful ;  he  has  a  particular  fancy  for  birds,  which 
he  models  very  well,  and  combines  agreeably  with  other 
embellishments.  The  composition  of  the  whole  has  some- 
thing original  and  light. 

In  Professor  SchefTauer's  studio  (himself  I  did  not  find 
in),  I  saw  a  sleeping  Venus,  with  an  Amor,  who  is  uncover- 
ing her,  of  white  marble,  well  executed  and  well  placed ; 
only  the  arm,  which  she  has  brought  backward  under  her 
head,  had  not  a  good  effect  from  the  chief  point  of  view. 
Some  bas-reliefs,  of  antique  purport ;  likewise  the  models 
of  the  monument,  which  the  consort  of  the  present  Duke  is 
erecting  upon  the  recovery  of  the  Duke,  brought  about  by 
the  prayers  of  the  people  and  the  family.  The  Obelisk 
stands  already  on  the  palace  square,  ornamented  with 
plaster  casts. 

In  the  absence  of  Professor  Ketsch,  his  wife  showed 
us  his  work-room.  His  family  picture,  in  full  length 
figures  of  the  size  of  life,  has  much  merit,  particularly  is 


318 


CORRESPONDEx\CE  BETWEEN 


his  own  remarkably  true  and  natural.  It  was  painted  in 
Rome.  His  portraits  are  very  good  and  animated,  and 
are  said  to  be  very  excellent  likenesses.  He  is  at  work 
on  an  historic  picture,  out  of  the  Messiah,  where  Marie 
converses  with  Porcia,  the  wife  of  Pilate,  of  the  bliss  of 
eternal  life,  and  convinces  her  of  it.  What  say  you  on 
the  whole  to  this  choice  ?  And  what  can  a  beautiful  face 
express  which  is  to  feel  in  anticipation  the  ecstacy  of 
Heaven  ?  Moreover,  for  the  head  of  Porcia  he  has  made 
two  studies  after  nature,  the  one  from  a  Roman  woman,  a 
splendid  brunette,  full  of  spirit  and  feeling,  and  the  other 
from  a  blonde,  a  good  soft  German.  The  expression  of 
both  faces  is,  as  might  be  expected,  anything  but  unearth- 
ly ;  and  even  if  a  picture  could  be  thus  made,  no  individual 
features  should  appear  in  it.  Meanwhile,  one  would  like 
to  have  the  Roman  head  always  before  one's  eyes.  A 
thought  so  arch-German  vexed  me.  Alas !  that  the 
good  plastic  artist  will  vie  with  the  Poet,  while,  through 
what  he  alone  can  do,  and  should  do,  he  might  bring  the* 
Poet  to  despair  ! 

1  found  Professor  Mueller  at  the  portrait  of  Graff,  which 
Graff  painted  himself.  He  is  also  busy  with  the  Death  of 
a  General,  and  that  an  American,  a  young  man,  who  fell 
at  Bunker  Hill.  The  picture  is  by  an  American,  Trum- 
bull, and  has  merits  of  the  artist,  and  faults  of  the  amateur. 
The  merits  are,  very  characteristic  and  admirably  handled 
portrait  faces  ;  the  faults,  disproportions  between  the  dif- 
ferent bodies,  and  between  their  parts.  It  is  composed, 
relatively  to  the  subject,  right  well,  and,  for  a  picture  in 
which  there  must  be  so  many  red  uniforms,  very  judi- 
ciously colored  ;  yet,  at  the  first  view,  it  makes  a  glaring 
impression,  until  one  gets  reconciled  to  it  on  account  of 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


its  merits.  The  engraving  makes  a  very  good  wliolo,  and 
is  in  its  parts  excellently  done.  I  saw,  likewise,  the 
admirable  engraving  of  the  last  King  in  France,  displayed 
in  a  capital  impression. 

Towards  evening,  we  visited  Counsellor  RiielT,  who 
possesses  an  admirable  collection  of  drawings  and  en- 
gravings, whereof  a  part,  for  the  pleasure  and  convenience 
of  amateurs,  is  hung  up  under  glass.  Then  we  went  to 
Mr.  Rapp's  garden,  and  I  had  once  more  the  pleasure  of 
enjoying  the  intelligent  opinions  so  well  grounded  in  feel- 
ing, of  this  man  upon  many  subjects  of  Art,  as  well  as 
Danneckcr's  sprighlliness. 

G. 

CCCLVl. 

31st  August,  1797. 

Here  you  have  about  the  purport  of  my  yesterday, 
which,  as  you  see,  I  spent  very  well.  For  the  rest,  there 
^vere  many  more  remarks  to  be  made.  Particularly  sad 
for  architecture  was  the  observation,  what  Duke  Charles 
with  his  striving  after  a  certain  magnitude  might  have 
effected,  if  he  had  had  the  true  sense  for  this  Art,  and  if 
he  had  been  so  fortunate  as  to  find  able  artists  for  his 
edifices.  But  it  is  obvious  his  inclination  was  merely  for 
a  certain  imposing  showy  style,  without  taste,  and  in  his 
earlier  days  architecture  had  declined  in  France,  whence 
he  took  his  models.  I  am  now  full  of  desire  to  see  Ho- 
henheim. 

After  all  this  that  I  have  written  down,  as  if  to  yourself 
a  great  part  of  it  were  not  already  known,  I  must  tell  you, 
that  on  the  way  I  fell  upon  a  poetic  form,  in  which  we 
hereafter  must  do  more,  and  which  perhaps  will  do  good 
to  the  next  Almanac.    I  mean  Conversations  in  Songs. 


320 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


We  have,  in  a  certain  elder  German  period,  right  clever 
things  of  the  sort,  and  in  this  form  much  may  be  said, 
only  one  must  enter  well  into  it,  and  get  at  what  is  pecu- 
liar to  the  species.  I  have  begun  such  a  conversation 
between  a  youth,  who  is  in  love  with  the  maid  of  a  mill, 
and  the  mill-stream,  and  hope  to  send  it  to  you  soon. 
Through  this  direction,  life  is  given  to  the  poetic,  figura- 
tive, allegorical,  and  especially  when  travelling,  where  so 
many  objects  address  themselves  to  you,  it  is  a  very  good 
species. 

On  this  occasion,  likewise,  it  is  note-worthy  to  consider 
what  subjects  adapt  themselves  to  this  particular  mode  of 
treatment.  I  cannot  tell  you,  to  repeat  my  former  com- 
plaint, how  much  mistakes  as  to  subjects  at  present 
diisturb  me,  especially  on  account  of  the  sculptors  :  for 
these  artists  evidently  pay  the  dearest  for  the  fault  and  the 
stupidity  of  the  time.  So  soon  as  I  get  with  Meyer,  and 
can  use  his  reflections,  which  he  has  announced  to  me,  I 
will  set  immediately  to  work  and  put  together  in  writing' 
at  least  the  chief  points.  In  the  meantime,  do  you  too 
reflect  further  on  poetic  forms  and  subjects. 

Upon  the  dramatic-comic  I  have  several  times  had  oc- 
casion to  think  ;  the  result  is,  that  it  can  only  be  perceived 
in  a  large,  more  or  less  rough  mass  of  people,  and  that, 
alas  !  with  us  we  have  no  such  capital  out  of  which  to 
draw  usurious  poetic  interest. 

Here  they  have  sufi'ered  much,  and  continue  to  suffer, 
from  the  war.  If  the  French  took  from  the  country  five 
millions,  the  Imperial  troops  are  said  to  have  already  con- 
sumed sixteen  millions.  On  the  other  hand,  a  stranger  is 
truly  astonished  at  the  prodigious  fertility  of  this  country, 
and  comprehends  the  possibility  of  bearing  such  burthens. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


321 


You  and  yours  are  remembered  with  much  love  and 
pleasure  ;  nay,  I  may  well  say,  with  enthusiasm.  And 
herewith  I  say  you  a  farewell  for  to-day.  Cotta*  has 
given  me  a  friendly  invitation  to  lodge  with  him  ;  I  have 
accepted  it  with  thanks,  as  hitherto,  especially  in  hot 
weather,  I  have  suffered  more  in  the  inns  than  on  the  road. 

CCCLVII. 

4th  September. 

This  letter  may  now  at  last  go  off ;  I  hope  to  find  one 
from  you  at  Cotta's,  in  Tuebingen,  where  I  purpose  soon 
to  arrive.  Here  it  has  gone  very  well  with  me,  and  I 
have  had  much  satisfaction  in  the  society  into  which  your 
note  introduced  me.  They  have  sought  in  all  ways  to 
entertain  me,  and  to  show  me  everything,  and  have  made 
me  acquainted  with  a  number  of  persons.  If  Meyer  were 
here,  I  could  readily  make  up  my  mind  to  remain  still 
longer.  It  is  natural,  that  in  the  mass  of  art  and  science, 
I  am  just  now  beginning  to  discern  many  things  that  I 
could  use  to  my  advantage  ;  for,  it  is  really  remarkable, 
what  an  active  endeavor  lives  among  these  men.  But 
what  especially  pleases  me,  and  would  make  a  longer 
residence  agreeable,  is,  that  in  this  short  time  with  those 
persons  whom  I  have  seen  often,  I  have,  through  inter- 
change of  ideas,  really  advanced  in  culture,  so  that  the 
intercourse  has  been  fruitful  for  both  parties.  Upon  some 
leading  points  I  have  really  had  a  clear  understanding 
with  Dannecker,  and  into  some  others  Rapp  appears  to 
enter,  who  has  z.  very  comfortable,  cheerful,  liberal  exist- 
ence. It  is  true  that  his  principles  are  yet  the  principles 
of  an  amateur,  which,  as  is  well  known,  have  a  quite  pe- 

*  The  celebrated  publisher 
14* 


322 


CORRESPONDENCK  BETWEEN 


culiar  tour  nur  and  one  which  is  not  exactly  favorable  to 
solid  Art ;  nevertheless,  he  feels  naturally  and  with  viva- 
city, and  seizes  readily  the  reasons  of  a  judgment  in  Art, 
although  it  differs  from  his  own.  I  think  of  leaving  this 
the  day  after  to-morrow,  and  hope  to  find  a  letter  from  you 
in  Tuebingen. 

In  addition  to  my  keeping  a  record  with  tolerable  dili- 
gence of  what  happens  to  me,  I  have  noted  down  various 
things  that  were  put  in  motion  in  me  by  circumstances 
and  conversations,  whereby  gradually  short  treatises  arise, 
which  perhaps  in  the  end  will  unite  together. 

Farewell,  and  continue  Irom  time  to  time  to  write  to  me 
to  the  care  of  Cotta,  who  will  always  be  informed  of  my 
place  of  residence. 

G. 

CCCLVIII. 

Your  letter  of  the  30th  August,  which  I  received  on 
my  arrival  in  Tuebingen,  promises  me  that  a  second  is 
soon  to  follow  it,  which  however  as  yet  has  not  come  to 
hand  ;  if  only  the  illness  of  which  you  write  is  not  the 
cause  of  this  delay. 

I  am  glad  that  you  can  make  use  of  what  I  wrote  you 
about  the  Ibycus ;  it  was  the  idea  whereon  in  fact  I  in- 
tended to  build  my  performance  ;  conjoined  with  your 
otherwise  successful  treatment,  the  whole  can  thereby 
attain  to  completeness  and  roundness.  If  you  can  only 
get  the  Bell  ready  for  this  Almanac  !  for  this  poem  will 
be  one  of  the  most  distinguished,  and  an"  especial  orna- 
ment to  the  Almanac. 

Since  the  4th  of  September,  when  J  dispatched  my  last 
letter,  everything  has  gone  well  with  me.    I  remained  in 


SCHlLLKll   AND  (iÜETllE. 


323 


Stuttgart  three  days  longer,  in  which  I  became  acquainted 
with  several  more  persons,  and  saw  much  that  was  interest- 
ing. As  I  could  perceive  that  my  relation  to  Rapp  and 
Dannecker  was  growing  closer,  and  that  both  were  not 
disinclined  to  embrace  some  principles  which  I  regard  as 
theoretically  so  important,  and  they  on  their  part  commu- 
nicated to  me  much  that  was  good,  agreeable,  and  useful, 
I  resolved  to  read  my  Herrmann  to  them,  which  I  then 
accomplished  in  one  evening ;  I  had  every  cause  to  be 
pleased  with  the  effect  it  produced,  and  to  all  of  us  those 
hours  were  fruitful. 

Since  the  7th,  I  am  in  Tuebingen,  whose  environs  I 
visited  with  pleasure  in  fine  weather,  during  the  first  days 
after  my  arrival,  and  now  I  cheat  a  rainy  season  of  its  in- 
fluence through  social  intercourse.  At  Mr.  Cotta's  I  have  a 
cheerful  room,  and  between  the  old  church  and  the  aca- 
demical buildings  a  friendly  though  narrow  outlook  into 
the  Neckar  valley.  In  the  meanwhile  I  am  preparing  for 
my  departure,  and  my  next  letter  you  will  receive  from 
Stäfa.  Meyer  is  very  well,  and  eagerly  awaits  me.  It 
is  not  to  be  calculated  what  our  meeting  may  be,  and 
produce  for  us  both. 

The  nearer  I  become  acquainted  with  Mr.  Cotta,  the 
better  he  pleases  me.  For  a  man  of  energetic  thought, 
and  enterprising  mode  of  business,  he  has  so  much  tem- 
perance, gentleness,  and  coUectedness,  so  much  clearness 
and  steadfastness,  that  he  is  to  me  a  rare  phenomenon.  I 
have  made  acquaintance  with  several  of  the  professors 
here,  very  valuable  men  in  their  departments,  way  of 
thought  and  life,  who  seem  to  be  all  well  suited  to  their 
position,  without  at  the  same  time  exactly  requiring  an 
active  academic  circulation.    The  great  institutions  seem 


324 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


to  be  like  the  great  edifices  that  inclose  them  ;  they  stand 
like  calm  Colossuses  grounded  on  themselves,  and  create 
no  lively  activity,  which  they  don't  need  for  their  mainte- 
nance. 

I  have  been  singularly  taken  by  surprise  here,  by  a 
small  work  of  Kant,  which  you  no  doubt  will  know — 
Proclamation  of  the  Near  Conclusion  of  a  Treaty  for  Eter- 
nal Peace  in  Philosophy.  A  very  valuable  product  of  his 
well  known  way  of  thinking,  which,  like  everything  that 
comes  from  him,  contains  the  most  noble  passages,  but  is 
also  in  composition  and  style  more  Kantish  than  Kant.  It 
gives  me  great  pleasure  that  the  prominent  philosophers, 
and  the  preachers  of  prejudice,  could  so  vex  him  that  he 

opposes  them  with  all  his  power. 

********* 

I  must  not  forget  to  congratulate  you  on  the  happy  pro- 
gress of  the  Almanac,  and  on  Knight  Poggenburg. 

G. 

CCCLIX. 

Jena,  7th  September,  1797. 

At  last  I  begin  to  feel  myself  again  and  to  find  again  my 
mood.  After  the  departure  ofmy  last  letter  to  you  I  got  worse; 
I  had  not  been  so  ill  for  a  long  while,  until  at  last  an  emetic 
brought  things  into  order  again.  Almost  all  my  occupa- 
tions ceased  in  the  meanwhile,  and  the  few  tolerable  mo- 
ments that  I  had  the  Almanac  laid  claim  to.  Such  an  oc- 
cupation, through  its  uninterrupted,  inexorable  monotony, 
has  in  it  something  salutary,  as  it  abolishes  all  arbitrary 
action  and  presents  itself  undeniably  like  the  day.  You 
gather  yourself  up,  because  it  must  be,  and  the  work  does 
not  go  on  the  worse  for  the  definite  demands  that  you 
make  on  yourself.    We  shall  soon  be  through  with  the 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHIi;. 


325 


printing  of  the  Almanac,  and  if  the  accessories,  cover, 
title-page,  and  music,  cause  no  delay,  the  little  work  may- 
yet  be  sent  off  before  Michaelmas.  In  the  Ibycus  I  have 
undertaken,  according  to  your  advice,  essential  changes  ; 
the  exposition  is  no  longer  so  meagre,  the  hero  of  the  Ballad 
excites  more  interest,  the  Cranes  fill  the  imagination  also 
more,  and  command  the  attention  sufficiently  so  as  at  their 
last  appearance  not  to  be  forgotten  through  v^^hat  has  gone 
before. 

I  have  sent  the  Ballad  in  its  altered  form  to  Boettiger,  to 
learn  from  him  v^^hether  there  is  anything  in  it  inconsistent 
with  ancient  Grecian  usages.  So  soon  as  I  get  it  back,  I 
shall  put  the  last  finish  to  it,  and  then  hasten  with  it  to  the 
press.  In  my  next  letter  I  hope  to  send  it  to  you,  together 
with  all  the  rest  of  the  Almanac  printed.  Schlegel,  also, 
has  sent  me  another  tale,  in  which  the  story  of  Arion,  with 
the  dolphin,  is  treated.  The  conception  were  right  good, 
but  the  execution  seems  to  me  cold,  dry,  and  without 
interest.  He  would  like,  also,  to  handle  Sacontala  as 
a  ballad,  a  strange  undertaking  for  him,  from  which  may 
his  good  angel  preserve  him. 

Your  letter  of  the  16th  August  I  received  much  later, 
as  Boettiger,  who  had  to  attend  to  it,  was  absent.  The 
sentimental  phenomenon  in  you  doesn't  at  all  astonisli  me, 
and  I  think  you  yourself  have  satisfactorily  explained  it. 
It  is  a  want  of  poetic  natures,  not  to  say  of  the  human 
mind  generally,  to  bear  around  it  as  little  as  possible  that 
is  void,  to  appropriate  to  itself  through  feeling  as  much 
world  as  is  going  on,  to  look  for  the  bottom  of  all  appear- 
ances, and  to  require  everywhere  a  whole  of  humanity.  Is 
the  object  as  individual  empty  and  in  a  poetic  view  with- 


326 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


out  import,  then  the  combining  faculty  will  make  a  trial 
with  it,  and  take  hold  of  it  by  its  symbolical  aids,  and  thus 
out  of  it  make  a  language  for  humanity.  Always,  how- 
ever, is  the  sentimental  (in  the  good  sense)  an  effect  of 
the  poetic  endeavor,  which  is  not  entirely  satisfied,  be  it 
from  causes  which  lie  in  the  object,  or  from  such  as  lie  in 
the  mind.  Such  a  poetic  demand,  without  a  pure  poetic 
mood,  and  without  a  poetic  object,  seems  to  have  been 
your  case,  and  what  you  consequently  experienced  in  your- 
self is  nothing  but  the  common  history  of  the  sentimental 
mode  of  feeling,  and  confirms  all  that  we  have  together 
established  in  regard  to  the  matter. 

Only  one  thing  more  must  I  mention  in  connection 
herewith.  You  express  yourself  as  if  much  depended  on 
the  object,  what  I  cannot  grant.  It  is  true  the  object  must 
signify  something,  just  as  the  poetic  object  must  be  some- 
thing ;  but  at  last  it  depends  upon  the  mind  whether  an 
object  shall  mean  anything  ;  and  thus  it  seems  to  mc 
that  the  empty  and  the  significant  lie  more  in  the  subject 
than  the  object.  It  is  the  mind  that  here  fixes  the  boun- 
dary, and  the  common  or  genial  I  can  also  find  here  as 
everywhere  only  in  the  treatment,  not  in  the  choice  of  sub- 
ject. What  the  two  public  squares  were  to  you,  would, 
perhaps,  have  been  to  you  under  other  circumstances, 
with  a  more  open,  poetic  mood,  every  street,  bridge,  every 
ship,  a  plough,  or  any  other  mechanic  instrument. 

By  no  means,  however,  reject  these  sentimental  ex- 
pressions, and  give  them  expression  as  often  as  you  can. 
Nothing,  except  the  poetical,  cleanses  the  mind  so  much 
of  the  empty  and  common  as  this  view  of  things  ;  a  world 
is  thereby  laid  in  the  single  object,  and  superficial  appear- 
ances acquire  thereby  an  infinite  depth.    Is  it  not  poeti- 


SCHILJ.ER   AiND  GOETHE. 


327 


cal  ?  still  it  is,  as  you  yourself  express  it,  human,  and  the 
human  is  always  the  beginning  of  the  poetical,  which  is 
only  its  summit. 

I  have  to-day,  the  8th,  received  a  letter  from  Cotta,  who 
tells  me  that  you  have  been  in  Stuttgart  since  the  30th. 
I  cannot  think  of  you  in  Stuttgart  without  at  the  same 
time  falling  into  a  sentimental  mood.  What  would  I  have 
given  sixteen  years  ago  to  meet  you  on  that  ground,  and 
how  strange  it  is  to  me  when  I  think  at  the  same  time  of 
the  circumstances  and  conditions  of  mind  which  that  place 
recalls  to  me  and  of  our  present  relation. 

I  am  curious  how  long  you  found  inclination  and  cause  to 
tarry  in  those  regions.  I  hope  my  letter  of  the  30th  found 
you  still  there  ;  this  one  will  probably  reach  you  first  in 
Zurich,  and  with  our  friend,  whom  I  cordially  greet. 

Write  me  in  your  next  letter  what  is  to  be  done  with 
the  copies  of  the  Almanac  that  are  destined  for  you, 
whither  and  to  whom  I  shall  send  them. 

I  am  heartily  glad  that  you  have  thought  of  the  Huren. 
and  give  me  cause  to  hope  for  something  for  October. 
With  the  arrangements  you  have  made  to  master  the  mass  of 
experience  round  you,  inexhaustible  materials  must  flow  ' 
in  to  you. 

It  was  very  agreeable  to  me  that  Iloelderlin  presented 
himself  to  you  ;  he  wrote  me  nothing  about  his  intending 
to  do  it,  and  must,  therefore,  have  taken  courage  all  at 
once.  Here  is  another  poetic  genius,  of  Schlegel's  sort. 
You  will  find  him  in  the  Almanac.  He  has  imitated 
Schlegel's  Pygmalion,  and  furnished  a  symbolical  Phaeton 
in  the  same  taste.  The  production  is  foolish  enough,  but 
the  versification  and  single  good  thoughts  give  it  some 
merit. 


328 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


Farewell,  and  continue  as  heretofore  to  let  me  follow 
your  spirit.  Hearty  greetings  from  my  wife.  Your  little 
boy  is,  I  hear,  entirely  restored. 

SCH. 

CCCLX. 

Jena,  14th  September,  1797. 

To  my  joy  I  learn  from  your  Stuttgart  letters,  that  you 
like  my  native  land,  and  that  the  persons  whom  I  recom- 
mended to  you  have  not  given  me  the  lie.  I  doubt  not 
that  these  seven  days  which  you  yourself  spent  there  with 
pleasure  and  profit,  will  make  epochs  for  Dannecker  and 
Rapp,  and  will  have  very  good  results.  The  first  espe- 
cially is  highly  capable  of  culture,  and  he  wants  nothing 
but  good  fostering  from  without,  which  should  give  to  his 
rich  natural  abilities  the  proper  direction. 

It  is  only  from  a  certain  exuberance  that  I  can  account 
for  his  mistakes,  as  he  otherwise  takes  hold  of  Art  so  ear- 
nestly, and  in  some  leading  points  goes  at  its  true  essence  ; 
it  seems  to  me  that  his  poetic  imagination  confounds  itself 
with  the  artistic,  in  which  he  is  by  no  means  deficient. 

In  a  general  point  of  view,  I  ask  you,  on  this  occasion, 
whether  the  tendency  of  so  many  able  artists  of  modern 
times  to  poetise  in  Art,  is  not  to  be  explained  from  this, 
that  in  a  period  like  ours  there  is  no  other  passage  to  the 
aesthetic  than  through  the  poetic,  and  that  consequently  all 
artists  who  make  pretension  to  genius,  for  the  very  reason 
that  they  have  been  aroused  through  a  poetic  sensibility, 
also  show  in  plastic  representation  a  poetic  imagination. 
The  evil  were  not  so  great  had  not  unfortunately  the 
poetic  spirit  in  our  times  taken  a  special  direction  so  un- 
favorable to  the  culture  of  art.  But  inasmuch  as  poetry 
has  deviated  so  widely  from  its  generic  idea  (through 


SCHILLER  AND  ÜOETHK 


329 


which  alone  it  stands  in  contact  with  the  imitative  arts),  it 
is  no  good  leader  to  art,  and  can  at  most  exert  in  the  artist 
a  negative  influence  (by  raising  him  above  common  na- 
ture), but  by  no  means  a  positive  active  one  (by  designa- 
tion of  subjects). 

And  this  aberration  of  plastic  artists  in  modern  times  is 
to  me  satisfactorily  accounted  for  through  our  ideas  on 
material  and  ideal  poetry,  and  furnishes  a  new  proof  of 
their  truth.    I  represent  the  matter  to  myself  as  follows  : 

The  poet  and  artist  has  two  things  to  do  ;  to  lift  himself 
above  the  real,  and  to  keep  within  the  circle  of  the  sensu- 
ous. Where  both  are  combined,  there  is  aesthetic  art. 
But  if  his  own  nature  is  unpropitious,  and  not  apt  at  forms, 
he  quits  not  only  the  real,  but  too  easily  likewise  the 
sensuous,  and  becomes  ideal,  and,  if  his  understanding  is 
weak,  even  fantastic  ;  but  if,  controlled  by  his  own  nature, 
he  wishes  to  and  must  abide  in  the  sensuous,  he  also 
readily  confines  himself  to  the  real,  and  becomes,  in  the 
limited  sense  of  the  word,  material,  and  if  he  is  altogether 
wanting  in  imagination,  servile  and  common.  In  neither 
case,  therefore,  is  he  aesthetic. 

The  reduction  of  empiric  forms  to  aesthetic  is  the  diffi- 
cult operation,  and  here  is  generally  wanting  either  the 
body  or  the  spirit,  truth  or  freedom.  The  old  models,  as 
well  in  the  poetical  as  in  the  plastic,  seem  to  me  especially 
to  afford  this  advantage,  that  they  display  an  empiric  na- 
ture, which  is  already  reduced  to  an  aesthetic  one,  and 
that,  after  a  deep  study  of  them,  they  can  even  give  you 
hints  as  to  the  mode  of  effecting  the  reduction. 

Out  of  despair  at  not  being  able  to  reduce  the  empiric 
nature  wherewith  he  is  surrounded  to  an  aesthetic,  the 
modern  artist  of  lively  fancy  and  genius  prefers  entirely  to 


330 


CORRESPONDExXCE  BETWEEN 


abandon  it,  and  seeks  in  the  imagination  for  help  against 
the  empiric  world,  against  reality.  He  puts  a  poetic  sub- 
stance into  his  work,  which  otherwise  would  be  empty  and 
barren,  because  it  wants  that  substance  which  must  be 
drawn  out  of  the  depths  of  the  subject. 

CCCLXI. 

15th  September. 

It  w^ere  admirable  if  you  unfolded  with  Meyer  your 
thoughts  upon  the  choice  of  subjects  for  poetic  and  plastic 
representation.  This  matter  stands  connected  with  the 
inm.ost  being  of  art,  and  v/ould  be,  at  the  same  time, 
through  its  immediate  and  easy  application  to  real  works 
of  Art,  very  practical  and  engaging.  I,  for  my  part,  will 
also  try  to  set  forth  clearly  my  thoughts  thereon. 

For  the  present,"  it  seems  to  me  that  we  might  with 
great  advantage  start  from  the  idea  of  the  absolute  definite- 
ness  of  the  subject.  It  would  namely  become  apparent, 
that  all  works  of  Art  that  have  been  failures  through  an 
unskilful  choice  of  subject,  are  clmrgeable  with  such  an 
indefiniteness,  and  the  arbitrariness  which  is  a  conse- 
quence thereof. 

The  idea  of  what  is  called  a  pregnant  moment,  appears 
to  me  perfectly  explicable  through  its  qualification  for  a 
thoroughly  definite  precise  representation.  In  the  poetic 
class  I  know  no  case  but  your  Herrmann.  Here,  per- 
haps, it  might  be  shown  by  a  kind  of  induction,  that  with 
every  other  choice  of  action,  something  must  have  remained 
indefinite. 

If  now,  with  this  proposition,  we  combine  the  other, 
namely,  that  the  selection  of  the  subject  must  always  take 
place  through  the  means  that  are  peculiar  to  one  class  of 
Art,  that  it  must  be  made  within  the  particular  limits  of  each 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


331 


species  of  Art, we  should  have,  it  seems  to  me,  a  sufTicient 
criterion,  not  to  be  misled  in  the  choice  of  subjects. 

But  in  truth,  even  if  this  be  sound,  the  application  of  the 
principle  is  difficult,  and  might  in  all  cases  be  more  an 
affair  of  feeling  and  of  presentiment  than  of  clear  con- 
sciousness. 

I  am  very  curious  about  the  new  poetic  genius,  of  which 
you  intend  soon  to  send  me  something.  The  rich  shifting 
variety  of  your  imagination  astonishes  and  delights  me, 
and  although  I  cannot  follow  yon,  it  is  an  enjoyment  and  a 
profit  to  me  to  send  my  eyes  after  you.  From  this  new 
kind,  I  expect*  something  very  graceful,  and  understand 
already  beforehand  how  well  fitted  it  must  be  to  impart  a 
poetic  life  and  a  genial  movement  to  the  commonest 
subjects. 

From  our  friend  Humboldt  I  received  letters  to-day.  He 
is  no  longer  pleased  with  Vienna,  and  has  also  as  good  as 
given  up  the  Italian  journey,  but  is  almost  resolved  to  go 
to  Paris,  which  however,  probably,  after  the  late  events 
there,  he  will  not  carry  into  efTect.  He  writes  that  about 
this  time  he  Avill  give  you  ncAvs  of  him.self. 

All  are  well  in  my  house,  and  we  yesterday  celebrated 
with  much  joy  Carl's  birth-day.  To-day  we  had  Vent 
from  Weimar,  with  us,  whom  I  like  very  well ;  beyond 
this,  my  society  has  not  been  increased  by  any  new  figure. 
My  wife  thinks  of  you  with  hearty  interest,  and  my  brother 
and  sister-in-law  send  their  best  regards  to  you. 

Fare  you  right  well.  Greet  Meyer,  and  remember  me 
in  your  circle.  Your  letters  are  for  us  richly  laden  ships, 
and  make  at  present  one  of  my  highest  enjoyments 
Farewell. 

SCH. 

Do  but  look  at  the  sheet  in  which  I  envelope. 


332 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


CCCLXII. 

Jexa,  22d  September,  1797. 

Your  letter,  together  with  its  accompaniment,  gave  us 
again  great  pleasure.  The  song  is  full  of  cheerful  humor  and 
nature.  It  seems  to  me  that  this  species  must  on  this  ac- 
count be  very  favorable  to  the  poet,  that  it  relieves  him  of 
all  troublesome  side-work,  such  as  introductions,  transi- 
tions, descriptions,  and  permits  him  to  work  with  a  light 
hand  only  at  what  is  genial  and  significant  in  his  subject. 

Here,  then,  were  the  outset  to  a  new  collection,  the  be- 
ginning of  an  "  infinite"  series  :  for  this  poem  has,  like  all 
good  poetry,  an  entire  class  within  itself,  through  the 
mood  which  it  gives,  and  the  form  it  presents. 

I  should  have  been  very  desirous  of  observing  the  im- 
pression which  your  Herrmann  made  on  my  Stuttgart 
friends.  There  was,  I  am  sure,  no  want  of  a  certain 
heartiness  of  reception,  but  so  few  men  can  calmly  enjoy 
the  naked  of  human  nature.  I,  however,  doubt  not  at  all, 
that  your  Herrmann  will  thoroughly  triumph  over  all  these 
subjectivities,  and  do  it  through  the  finest  quality  in  a 
poetic  work,  namely,  through  its  whole,  through  the  pure 
clearness  of  its  form,  and  through  the  fully  exhausted  cir- 
cle of  human  feelings.  / 

My  last  letter  already  announced  to  you,  that  I  was 
obliged  to  lay  the  Bell  aside.  I  acknowledge  that  this, 
seeing  that  it  had  to  be  done,  is  not  so  entirely  disagree- 
able to  me  ;  for  it  is  only  after  carrying  the  subject  about 
with  me,  and  keeping  it  warm,  that  the  poem,  which  is 
really  no  small  task,  can  attain  to  its  true  ripeness.  This, 
too,  is  the  ballad-year,  and  the  next  has  already  quite  the 
appearance  of  becoming  the  song-year,  to  which  class 
also  the  Bell  belongs. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


In  the  meanwhile,  I  hav'n't  lost  the  last  eight  days  for 
the  Almanac.  Chance  brought  me  a  very  pretty  theme 
for  a  ballad,  which,  too,  is  nearly  finished,  and,  I  think, 
concludes  the  Almanac  not  unworthily.  It  consists  of 
twenty-four  stanzas  of  eight  lines  each,  and  is  called, 
The  Going  to  the  Forge,  from  which  you  see  that  I  lay 
claim  also  to  the  element  of  fire,  after  having  travelled 
over  water  and  air.  The  next  post  will  deliver  it  to  you, 
together  with  the  Almanac,  printed. 

I  wish  very  much  that  the  Cranes,  in  the  form  in  which 
you  now  read  them,  may  satisfy  you.  They  have  unques- 
tionably gained  through  the  idea  which  you  gave  me  for 
the  exposition.  1  believe,  also,  that  in  the  beginning  the 
Strophe  was  wanting,  which  I  have  devoted  to  the  Fai- 
ries, for  their  more  precise  delineation. 

I  have  also  read  Kant's  small  treatise,  and,  although  it 
contains  nothing  strictly  new,  I  have  enjoyed  his  fine 
thoughts.  There  is  in  this  old  gentleman  still  something 
so  youthful,  what  one  might  almost  call  aesthetic,  if  the 
monstrous  form,  which  might  be  called  a  philosophical 
chancery  style,  did  not  embarrass  one.  It  may  be  with 
Schlosser  as  you  say,  nevertheless  his  position  in  refe- 
rence to  the  critical  philosophers  has  something  in  it  so 
doubtful,  that  it  was  not  to  be  expected  that  he  should  be 
left  out.  Moreover,  it  seems  to  me,  that  in  all  disputes 
where  supernaturalism  is  defended  against  reason  by  think- 
ing heads,  there  is  cause  for  imputing  bad  faith  ;  expe- 
rience is  altogether  too  old,  and  besides  the  thing  is  so 
intelligible. 

We  are  now  enjoying  here  very  fine  autumn  days  ;  with 
you,  I  suppose  there  are  still  left  traces  of  summer.  In 
my  garden  great  operations  are  afoot,  to  improve  it  for 


334 


CORRESPONDENCr.  BETV/EEX 


the  coming  years.  We  have  had,  however,  no  bad  harvest 
of  fruit,  on  which  occasion  Carl  made  much  sport  for  us. 

With  the  doubtful  aspect  of  war  and  peace,  we  still 
doubt  as  to  the  speedy  execution  of  your  Italian  journey, 
and  sometimes  give  place  to  the  hope  that  we  -  may  see 
you  with  us  again  sooner  than  we  dared  expect. 

Farewell,  and  give  to  Meyer  the  most  friendly  greetmgs 
from  me  ;  heartily  do  we  wish  you  joy  on  your  re-union. 
My  wife  sends  you  her  best  greetings. 

SCH. 

CCCLXIll. 

Staefa,  25th.  September,  1797. 

Your  most  welcome  letter  of  the  7th  September,  I 
received  here  the  day  before  yesterday.  As  it  was  longer 
on  the  road  than  I  hoped,  I  could  not  but  fear  that  your 
disease  had  increased,  which  now,  alas  !  I  learn  from 
your  letter  was  the  case.  Would  that  in  your  quietness 
you  could  enjoy  as  good  health  as  I  in  my  motion  !  A 
sheet,  which  1  enclose,  will  tell  you  how  it  has  fared  with 
me  since  I  left  Tuebingen.  Meyer,  whom  now,  to  our 
mutual  joy,  I  have  found  again,  is  as  well  as  ever, 
and  we  have  already  chatted  together  about  a  thousand 
things.  He  comes  back  again  with  fine  treasures  of 
art,  and  with  treasures  of  a  very  accurate  observation. 
We  have  now  to  consider  in  what  forms  we  shall  use  a 
portion  of  them,  and  for  what  purposes  we  shall  layby  the 
other  portion. 

In  a  few  days,  we  are  going  to  the  Lake  of  the  Four 
Cantons.  The  great  natural  scenes  which  surround  it  I 
must  behold  once  more,  as  we  are  so  near  them,  for  the 
rubric  of  these  gigantic  rocks  must  not  be  wanting  among 
the  chapters  of  my  journey.    I  have  already  got  together 


SCHILLER   AMD  GOETHE. 


335 


a  couple  of  stout  bundles,  wherein  all  that  I  have  learnt  or 
seen,  or  collected,  is  written  or  stitched  in,  so  far  the 
oddest  mixture  in  the  world,  from  which  I  cannot,  as  I  at 
first  hoped,  pick  out  something  for  the  Horen. 

I  hope  yet  to  add  much  to  this  collection,  and  can 
thereby  test  myself  on  various  subjects.  There  is  an  en- 
joyment after  all,  at  last,  when  one  feels  that  he  can  sum 
up  so  many  things,  the  fruits  of  the  gTeat,  and  in  the  be- 
ginning apparently  unfruitful,  labors,  with  which  he  has  in 
his  life  been  tormented. 

As  Italy,  through  its  earlier  disturbances,  and  France 
through  its  latest,  are  more  or  less  closed  against  foreign- 
ers, we  shall,  from  the  summit  of  the  Alps,  follow  back 
the  fall  of  the  waters,  and  down  the  Rhine,  turn  our  steps 
again  towards  the  north,  before  the  bad  weather  begins. 
Probably,  we  shall  reside  contented  together  this  Winter, 
at  the  foot  of  the  Foxtower  ;  nay,  I  even  surmise  that 
Humboldt  will  keep  us  company.  The  whole  caravan,  as 
his  letter  tells  me,  which  I  received  in  Zurich,  has  like- 
wise given  up  the  journey  to  Italy  ;  they  are  all  coming 
to  Switzerland.  The  younger  intends  to  take  a  look  at 
this  country,  which  is  in  several  respects  so  interesting  to 
him  ;  and  the  elder  will  probably  have,  under  present  cir- 
cumstances, to  give  up  a  journey  to  France  which  he  had 
projected.  They  leave  Vienna  on  the  first  of  October  ; 
perhaps  I  shall  wait  for  them  in  this  region. 

And  now  I  turn  my  thoughts  to  you  and  your  labors. 
The  Almanac  makes  really  a  good  figure,  only  the  public 
will  miss  the  pepper  to  the  melons.  In  general,  nothing- 
is  so  longed  for  as  another  cargo  of  Xenia,  and  people 
will  be  distressed  not  to  be  able  to  renew  acquaintance 
with  these  rogues  they  have  so  much  abused.    I  am  very 


336 


CORRERPONDEXCE  BETWEEN 


glad  that  through  my  advice  the  beginning  of  your  Ihycus 
has  acquired  a  greater  breadth  and  fullness  ;  as  to  the 
conclusion,  it  will  turn  out  that  you  were  right.  The 
artist  must  himself  know  best  in  how  far  he  can  avail  him- 
self of  others'  suggestions.  The  Phrnton  is  by  no  means 
badly  made,  and  the  old  tale  of  the  e  ver  unsatisfied  strug- 
gle of  noble  humanity  after  the  original  source  of  its 
charming  existence,  is  worked  up  quite  passably.  Meyer 
could  not  read  the  Prometheus  through,  which  is  certainly 
a  bad  sign. 

The  copies  of  the  Almanac  which  you  intend  for  me 
have  the  goodness  to  lay  by  for  me  ;  for  you  probably  will 
have  sent  one  in  your  own  name  to  the  reigning  Duchess. 
I  want  much  to  see  this  little  work  together. 

Out  of  my  earlier  letters  you  will  have  seen  that  every- 
thing went  well  and  pleasantly  with  me  in  Stuttgart.  You 
were  often  mentioned,  and  by  many,  and  always  in  the 
best  way.  For  us  both,  I  believe  it  was  an  advantage  that 
we  came  together  later,  and  when  we  were  more  cul- 
tivated. 

Tell  me  in  your  next  letter  how  you  intend  to  establish 
yourself  for  the  coming  Winter  ?  Whether  your  plan  is 
directed  upon  the  garden,  the  Griesbach  House,  or 
Weimar  ?  I  wish  you  the  most  comfortable  situation,  in 
order  that,  with  your  other  ills,  you  may  not  have  to  con- 
tend with  the  weather. 

If,  after  the  receipt  of  this,  you  write  immediately,  have 
the  goodness  to  address  the  letter  directly  to  Zürich,  with 
merely  the  addition,  to  the  care  of  Captain  Ott,  at  the 
Sword  Inn.  I  can  calculate  that  this  will  be  on  the  road 
eight  days,  that  the  answer  will  be  the  same,  and  I  shall 
reach  Zurich  from  niy  mountain  excursion  about  the  mid- 
dle of  October. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


337 


For  the  news  that  my  little  boy  is  well  again,  I  am  the 
more  thankful  to  you,  because  for  some  time  I  haA^e  re- 
ceived no  direct  advices,  and  the  letters  from  my  home 
must  be  detained  somewhere.  This  anxiety  alone  has 
given  me  many  sad  moments,  whilst  otherwise  everything 
went  well  and  happily. 

Fare  you  well.  Greet  your  dear  wife,  and  enjoy  the 
last  fine  days  of  autumn  with  your  friends,  whilst  I  am 
wandering  in  the  high  mountains.  My  correspondence 
will  now  make  a  small  pause,  until  I  am  again  returned 
hither. 

G. 

Brief  account  oj  my  journey  from  Tuehingen  to  Staefa. 

On  the  16th  Sept.,  I  set  out  from  Tuebingen  through 
Hechingen,  Balingen,  and  Welledingen,  to  Tuttingen. 
It  is  a  long  day's  journey.  I  made  it  from  four  o'clock  in 
the  morning  to  half-past  eight  in  the  evening.  At  first 
there  is  an  agreeable  country  to  the  eye,  but  at  last,  when 
you  get  higher  into  the  Neckar  region,  the  land  grows 
balder  and  less  fertile  ;  it  was  not  till  dark  that  I  reached 
the  valley  or  dell,  which  leads  down  to  the  Danube  ;  the 
fday  was  gloomy  but  agreeable  for  travelling. 

The  17th,  from  Tuttingen  to  Schaffhausen.  With  the 
finest  weather  almost  the  whole  way,  the  most  interesting- 
region.  At  seven  o'clock  I  left  Tuebingen  in  a  thick  fog, 
but  on  the  height  we  found  soon  a  clear  sky,  and  the  fog 
lay  horizontally  in  the  whole  valley  of  the  Danube.  Whilst 
on  the  height  which  separates  the  regions  of  the  Rhine 
and  Danube,  you  have  a  noble  prospect,  as  well  backwards 
as  sideways,  as  you  overlook  the  valley  of  the  Danube  to 

15 


338 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


Doneschingen  and  further.  But  forwards  the  view  is  par- 
ticularly grand  ;  you  see  the  Lake  of  Constance  and  the 
Grison  mountains  in  the  distance,  nearer,  Hohentwiel  and 
some  other  characteristic  basalt  rocks.  You  drive  through 
wooded  hills  and  valleys  to  Engen,  whence,  southwards,  a 
beautiful  fertile  plain  opens  :  then  you  pass  by  Hohentwiel 
and  the  other  mountains  which  you  first  saw  in  the  dis- 
tance, and  arrive  at  last  into  well-tilled  and  cleanly  Switz- 
erland. About  Schaff  hausen  the  whole  country  looks  like 
a  garden.  I  arrived  there  in  the  evening,  in  a  fine  sun- 
shine. 

The  18th  I  devoted  entirely  to  the  falls  of  the  Rhine, 
drove  early  to  Laufen,  and  from  thence  descended,  in  order 
at  once  to  enjoy  the  vast  astonishment.  I  contemplated 
the  powerful  scene,  while  the  summits  of  the  mountains 
and  hills  were  covered  with  the  fog,  with  which  mingled 
the  spray  and  mist  of  the  fall.  The  sun  came  forth  and 
glorified  the  spectacle,  showed  a  part  of  the  rainbow,  and 
let  me  see  the  whole  phenomenon  of  nature  in  its  full 
brilliancy.  I  crossed  over  to  the  small  castle  Woerth,  and 
now  beheld  the  whole  picture  in  front  and  from  afar ;  then 
I  returned  and  drove  from  Laufen  to  the  town.  In  the 
evening  I  drove  out  again  on  the  right  shore,  and  once 
more  enjoyed  with  the  setting  sun  this  magnificent  scene. 

On  the  19th,  the  weather  beautiful,  I  drove  to  Zürich 
through  Eglisau,  having  always  before  me  the  great  chain 
of  the  Swiss  mountains,  through  an  agreeable,  variegated, 
and  carefully  cultivated  country. 

The  20th,  I  spent  a  very  cheerful  forenoon  in  the  pro- 
menades of  Ziirich  ;  in  the  afternoon  the  weather  changed. 
Professor  Meyer  came,  and,  as  it  rained  and  stormed,  we 
remained  the  night  at  Zürich. 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


339 


On  the  21st,  with  pleasant  weather,  we  went  up  the  lake 
in  a  boat,  were  kindly  entertained  at  dinner  by  Mr.  Escher, 
at  his  estate  near  Herrliberg  on  the  lake,  and  arrived  in 
the  evening  at  Staefa. 

The  22d,  a  gloomy  day,  we  passed  in  examining  the 
works  of  art  prepared  and  acquired  by  Mr.  Meyer,  at  the 
same  time  communicating  to  one  another  our  observations 
and  experience.  In  the  evening  we  took  a  long  walk  up- 
ward in  the  place,  which  gives  a  captivating  and  ideal 
conception  of  the  most  beautiful  and  highest  culture.  The 
buildings  stand  far  apart ;  vineyards,  fields,  gardens,  or- 
chards fill  the  space  between  them,  and  in  this  way  the 
place  extends  two  or  three  miles  along  the  lake,  and  one 
mile  eastward  to  the  hill,  whose  whole  side  tillage  has 
already  conquered.  Now  we  are  preparing  for  a  short 
journey,  which  we  think  of  making  to  Einsiedel,  Schwytz, 
and  the  regions  around  the  lake  of  the  four  Cantons. 

CCCLXIV. 

I  HAD  almost  forgotten  to  tell  you  that  the  verse,*  "  It 
bubbles,  it  hisses,  and  rushes  and  roars,"  &;c.,  is  perfectly 
justified  at  the  falls  of  SchafFhausen ;  it  was  to  me  re- 
markable how  it  embraces  the  chief  moments  of  the  pro- 
digious scene.  I  endeavored  on  the  spot  to  take  in  the 
phenomenon  in  its  parts  and  as  a  whole,  as  it  presents 
itself,  and  I  separately  noted  the  observations  which  one 
makes  while  beholding  it,  as  well  as  the  ideas  it  gives  rise 
to.  You  will  one  day  see  how  these  few  poetic  lines  run, 
as  it  were,  like  a  thread,  through  this  labyrinth. 

I  have  just  now  received  through  Cotta  the  sheets  J.  K. 


*  In  Schiller's  poem,  The  Diver. 


340 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


of  the  Almanac,  and  hope,  on  my  return  from  the  moun- 
tains and  lakes,  to  find  more  letters  from  you.  Fare  you 
right  well.  Meyer  will  himself  write  a  few  words.  I 
have  the  greatest  joy  in  his  being  in  such  good  spirits  and 
health ;  may  I  but  hear  the  same  from  you. 

I  have  discovered  grand  subjects  for  Idyls  and  Elegies, 
and  by  whatever  names  the  other  kindred  sorts  of  poetry 
are  called,  and  I  have  made  some  already,  as,  indeed, 
generally,  I  have  never  taken  up  strange  objects  with  such 
ease,  and,  at  the  same  time,  produced  something.  Fare 
you  well,  and  let  us  ever  go  on  thus  theoretically  and 
practically. 

CCCLXV. 

Jena,  2d  October,  1797. 
«  #  #  #  # 

Now  that  I  have  the  Almanac  behind  me,  I  can  again 
turn  to  the  Wallenstein.  When  I  review  the  scenes  that 
are  finished,  I  am  on  the  whole  satisfied  with  myself,  only 
I  think  I  perceive  in  them  some  dryness,  which  however 
I  can  perfectly  explain  to  myself,  and  also  hope  to  re- 
move. It  arose  from  a  certain  fear  of  falling  into  my  for- 
mer rhetorical  manner,  and  from  a  too  anxious  endeavor 
to  keep  very  near  to  the  subject.  Now  the  subject  is  in 
itself  somewhat  dry,  and  requires  more  than  any  other  a 
practical  liberality ;  it  is  here  therefore  more  necessary 
than  elsewhere  to  await  a  very  pure  poetic  mood,  if  both 
by-ways,  the  prosaic  and  the  rhetorical,  are  to  be  avoided 
with  equal  care. 

I  see  indeed  still  before  me  a  prodigious  labor,  but  this 
much  I  know,  it  will  not  be  labor  wasted ;  for  the  whole  is 
poetically  organized,  and,  I  can  safely  say,  the  material  is 
converted  into  a  pure  tragic  fable.    The  moment  of  the 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


341 


action  is  so  pregnant,  that  all  that  belongs  to  its  complete- 
ness, naturally  proceeds  out  of  it — nay,  in  a  certain  sense, 
necessarily  lies  in  it.  Nothing  in  it  is  left  to  chance  ;  it 
is  opened  on  all  sides.  At  the  same  time  I  succeeded  in 
giving  to  the  action,  from  the  beginning,  such  a  proclivity 
and  tendency,  that  with  an  unceasing  and  accelerated  mo- 
tion it  hastens  to  its  end.  As  the  chief  character  is  a  re- 
tarding one,  the  events  are  all  made  to  go  in  a  circle,  and 
this  will,  I  think,  very  much  heighten  the  tragic  impres- 
sion. 

I  have  lately  occupied  myself  in  looking  for  a  subject 
for  tragedy,  which  should  be  like  that  of  the  CEdipus  Rex, 
and  afford  to  the  poet  the  same  advantages.  Those  ad- 
vantages are  immeasurable,  although  I  only  mention  one, 
namely,  that  the  compound  action,  which  is  entirely  hos- 
tile to  the  tragic  form,  may  be  taken  as  the  foundation,  for 
this  reason,  that  here  this  action  has  already  taken  place, 
and  consequently  falls  without  the  tragedy.  To  this  is 
added,  that  a  deed  done,  is  naturally,  as  being  irrevocable, 
much  more  terrible  ;  and  the  dread  that  something  may 
have  happened,  affects  the  mind  quite  differently  from  the 
dread  that  something  may  happen. 

The  CEdipus  is,  as  it  were,  only  a  tragic  analysis.  All 
is  already  there,  and  it  is  only  unfolded  :  that  can  take  place 
in  the  smallest  action  and  in  a  very  small  space  of  time, 
however  complicated  and  dependent  on  circumstances  the 
events  might  be.    How  favorable  is  not  this  to  the  poet ! 

But  I  fear  the  CEdipus  is  its  own  genus,  and  that  there 
is  no  second  species  of  it ;  least  of  all  would  it  be  pos- 
sible to  find  a  counterpart  to  it  in  less  fabulous  times.  The 
Oracle  takes  a  share  in  the  tragedy,  and  this  it  were 
utterly  impossible   to  replace  with  anything  else ;  and 


342 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


should  one  attempt  to  retain  the  substance  of  the  fable, 
with  changed  persons  and  times,  what  is  now  terrible 
would  become  laughable. 

I  have  not  for  a  long  while  heard  from  you,  and  look 
with  impatience  for  your  next  letter.  Perhaps  from  it  I 
shall  learn  something  more  definite  about  your  journey 
and  your  future  abode.  From  the  Humboldts  I  have  in 
the  meantime  heard  nothing  further  ;  but  I  think  it  not 
improbable  that  they  will  yet  turn  their  steps  towards 
Switzerland. 

How  gets  on  your  development  of  antique  works  of 
sculpture,  of  which  the  Laokoon  is  the  beginning  ?  I 
have  read  this  again  recently  with  the  highest  satisfaction, 
and  cannot  sufficiently  say,  to  how  many  important  fruitful 
ideas  it  leads,  touching  the  organization  of  aesthetic  works. 
Herrmann  and  Dorothea  are  making  a  noise  in  a  quiet 
way  ;  Körner  too  writes  me  that  he  has  read  the  whole, 
and  thinks  that  it  belongs  in  one  class  with  the  best  that 
you  have  written. 

Farewell,  dear  friend  !  My  wife  greets  you  cordially. 
Many  greetings  to  Meyer.  The  handsome  copies  of  the 
Almanac  are  not  yet  ready.  In  the  meanwhile  I  send  you 
a  common  one. 

CCCLXVI. 

Jena,  6th  October,  1797. 

Heartily  welcome  to  me  was  your  and  Meyer's  letter, 
which  I  received  a  few  hours  since.  I  hasten  to  answer 
it,  if  only  with  a  few  lines,  in  order  to  send  you  a  friendly 
greeting  before  your  return  out  of  the  mountains.  We 
have  longed  quite  impatiently  for  accounts  of  you,  and 
doubly  joyful  therefore  to  me  is  your  letter  to-day,  which 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


343 


gives  me  hopes  of  your  early  return.  I  really  looked  for- 
ward with  a  secret  dread  to  the  approaching  winter,  which 
now  promises  to  be  so  cheerful  to  me.  My  health  is  again 
pretty  good,  but  my  little  Ernest  suffers  severely  from 
teething,  and  gives  us  much  anxiety.  With  the  departure 
of  the  good  weather  we  shall  move  into  our  old  abode  in 
the  town,  and  it  may  possibly  suit  us  very  well  to  live  for 
a  time  in  Weimar.  Everything  depends  upon  this,  that  I 
once  get  well  settled  upon  Wallenstein  ;  then  no  change  of 
life  will  hurt  me,  which  otherwise  would  so  easily  disturb 
me,  who  am  very  much  a  slave  of  habit. 

I  am  not  a  little  pleased,  that  according  to  your  obser- 
vation my  description  of  the  whirlpool  agrees  with  the 
phenomenon.  I  have  had  no  other  opportunity  of  studying 
this  natural  scene  than  at  a  mill,  but  as  I  closely  studied 
Homer's  description  of  the  Charybdis,  this  perhaps  held 
me  to  nature.  Perhaps  your  journey  will  take  you  by  a 
forge  also,  and  you  can  tell  me  whether  I  have  correctly 
represented  this  smaller  phenomenon. 

I  send  to-day  the  first  cargo  of  the  Almanac  to  Leipsig, 
and  am  not  a  little  curious  as  to  its  sale.  It  may  be  true 
that  very  few  readers  will  thank  us  for  abstaining  from 
satiric  things  ;  for  even  those  who  were  themselves  hit, 
enjoyed  the  burning  of  their  neighbor's  house. 

I  must  close,  for  the  hour  of  the  post  is  come.  Note 
in  your  next  letter  whether  I  can  continue  to  send  my  let- 
ters by  Tuebingen,  through  Cotta.  We  heartily  greet  you 
and  Meyer,  whom  T  thank  for  his  dear  letter,  as  also  my 
wife.  Farewell. 

SCH. 


344 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


CCCLXVII. 

Stakfa,  14th  October,  1797. 

On  a  very  rainy  morning  I  remain  lying  in  bed,  my  dear 
friend,  to  converse  with  you  and  to  give  you  report  of  our 
condition,  in  order  that,  as  heretofore,  you  may  accompany 
us  with  your  spirit,  and  delight  us  from  time  to  time  with 
your  letters. 

Scarcely  had  I  found  myself  with  our  good  Meyer  in 
Zurich,  scarcely  had  we  arrived  here  together,  scarcely 
had  I  enjoyed  the  works  he  brought  with  him,  the  pleas- 
ant country  and  its  cultivation,  when  the  near  mountains 
gave  me  a  certain  disquiet,  and  the  fine  weather  encourag- 
ed the  wish  to  approach  them,  nay,  to  ascend  them. 
The  instinct  which  impelled  me  to  this  was  very  mixed 
and  vague  ;  I  remembered  the  effect  which  these  objects 
had  made  upon  me  twenty  years  before,  the  impression 
had  upon  the  whole  remained,  the  parts  were  effaced,  and 
I  felt  a  strange  desire  to  repeat  and  rectify  my  former 
experience.  I  had  become  another  man,  and  therefore  ob- 
jects could  not  but  appear  other  to  me.  Meyer's  good  health 
and  the  conviction  that  light  adventures  in  common,  as 
they  more  quickly  bind  new  acquaintances,  so  would  they 
likewise  be  favorable  to  old  ones,  when  these  are  to  be 
revived  after  some  interval,  decided  us  fully,  and  we  set 
out  with  the  best  weather,  which  for  eleven  days  accom- 
panied us  most  propitiously.  In  the  enclosed  I  at  least 
indicate  the  route  we  took ;  a  full,  although  aphoristic  diary 
I  will  in  the  sequel  communicate  to  you.  In  the  mean- 
while, your  dear  wife,  who  knows  a  part  of  this  region, 
will  be  able  to  supply  something  here  and  there  out  of  her 
recollection. 

On  our  return  I  found  your  two  dear  letters  with  the 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


345 


enclosures,  which  immediately  connected  themselves  to 
the  conversation  which,  on  the  road,  we  had  kept  up  Very 
zealously,  inasmuch  as  the  topic  of  the  subjects  to  be 
represented,  and  the  treatment  of  them  by  the  different 
Arts,  was  often  discussed  by  us  in  quiet  hours.  Perhaps 
a  short  treatise  will  show  you  soon  that  we  are  fully  of 
your  mind,  but  most  of  all  shall  I  rejoice  when  you  hear 
and  read  Meyer's  descriptions  and  opinions  of  so  many 
works  of  Art.  One  learns  on  this  occasion  that  a  com- 
plete experience  must  embrace  in  itself  the  theory.  We 
shall  be  so  much  the  more  certain  of  meeting  in  one  cen- 
tre, as  we  go  at  the  matter  from  so  many  sides. 

To  speak  to  you  of  my  own  state,  I  can  say,  that  so  far 
I  have  every  reason  to  be  satisfied  with  my  journey. 
Through  the  ease  with  which  I  seize  hold  of  objects,  I  have 
become  rich  without  being  loaded ;  the  material  does  not 
incommode  me,  because  I  know  how  to  methodize  it,  or  to 
work  it  up,  and  I  feel  more  freedom  than  ever  to  select 
manifold  forms  to  represent  for  myself  or  others  what  is 
worked  up.  From  the  barren  summit  of  the  Gotthardt  to 
the  admirable  works  of  Art  which  Meyer  has  brought  with 
him,  a  labyrinthic  footpath  leads  us  through  an  entangled 
series  of  interesting  objects  which  this  strange  country 
contains.  To  bring  before  the  mind  through  direct  con- 
templation the  natural-historical,  geographical,  economical 
and  political  conditions,  and  then  by  means  of  an. old 
Chronicle  to  get  nearer  to  past  times,  also  to  avail  oneself 
of  many  a  treatise  of  the  industrious  Swiss,  all  this  gives, 
particularly  with  the  circumscribed  nature  of  Swiss  exist- 
ence, a  very  agreeable  occupation,  and  as  well  the  gene- 
ral view  of  the  whole  as  the  insight  into  particulars  is 
especially  facilitated  thereby,  that  Meyer  is  here  at  home, 

15* 


346 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


has,  with  his  accurate  and  keen  perception,  been  so  long 
acquainted  with  the  relations  of  everything,  and  preserves 
them  in  a  faithful  memory.  Thus  have  we  in  a  short  time 
brought  together  more  than  I  could  imagine,  and  it  is  only 
a  pity  that  we  are  too  near  the  winter  by  a  month ;  one 
more  tour  of  four  weeks  could  not  fail  to  make  us  widely 
acquainted  with  this  strange  land. 

But  now  what  will  you  say  when  I  inform  you,  that 
among  all  this  prosaic  material,  a  poetic  one,  too,  has  pre- 
sented itself,  which  inspires  me  with  great  confidence  ?  I 
am  almost  convinced  that  the  fable  of  Tell  will  admit  of 
being  treated  epically,  and  if  I  succeed  in  my  design,  the 
singular  case  would  occur  that  the  tale  would  first  attain 
to  its  complete  truth  through  poetry,  instead  of  which  in 
other  cases  one  must  turn  history  into  fable  in  order  to  pro- 
duce something.  But  of  that  more  hereafter.  The  limit- 
ed highly  significant  locale,  in  which  the  events  play,  I  have 
again  very  accurately  impressed  on  my  mind  ;  and  I  have 
also  observed,  as  well  as  was  possible  in  the  short  time, 
the  characters,  manners,  and  customs  of  the  people  in 
these  regions,  and  it  depends  now  upon  good  luck  whether 
anything  comes  out  of  this  undertaking. 

But  now  a  question  arises,  which  for  us  is  from  time  to 
time  doubtful  ;  whither  we  shall  betake  ourselves  in 
order  to  work  up  most  conveniently  and  speedily  as  well 
Meyer's  collections  as  my  own  old  and  new  stock  ?  Un- 
happily here  in  this  place  the  lodgings  are  not  calculated 
for  Winter,  otherwise  I  would  not  deny  that  I  should  have 
been  quite  inclined  to  remain  here,  as  the  complete  soli- 
tude would  have  furthered  our  object  not  a  little.  To  this 
is  added,  that  it  would  have  been  the  most  suitable  place 
to  await  whether  Italy  or  France  will  again  invite  or 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


347 


admit  the  traveller  next  Spring.  In  Zurich  itself  I  cannot 
imagine  a  tolerable  existence,  and  so  we  shall  now  slowly 
return  to  Frankfort. 

I  have,  however,  hit  up  on  an  idea,  for  carrying  the 
which  into  execution  only  a  little  habit  is  wanted  ;  it 
would,  namely,  not  be  difficult  to  arrange  in  such  a  way 
that  one  could  work  with  self-possession  and  satisfaction 
while  on  the  journey.  For  if  at  certain  times  travelling 
distracts,  at  others,  on  the  contrary,  it  throws  us  the  more 
quickly  back  on  ourselves  ;  the  want  of  outward  relations 
and  connexions,  nay,  the  tedium,  is  favorable  to  him  who 
has  various  things  to  work  up.  Travel  is  like  a  game  ; 
there  is  always  gain  or  loss,  and  mostly  from  the  unex- 
pected side  ;  you  receive  more  or  less  than  you  hope  for ; 
you  can,  with  impunity,  loiter  along  for  a  while,  then  you 
are  again  obliged  to  gather  yourself  up  a  moment.  For 
natures  like  mine,  that  like  to  establish  themselves  firmly 
and  hold  fast  to  things,  a  journey  is  invaluable  ;  it  animates, 
instructs  and  cultivates. 

I  am  also  no  w  convinced  that  one  could  very  well  go  to 
Italy :  for,  after  an  earthquake,  a  fire,  or  a  flood,  everything 
in  the  world  settles  down  as  quickly  as  possible  into  its  old 
condition,  and  I  should  undertake  the  journey  without  per- 
sonal apprehension,  if  other  considerations  did  not  with- 
hold me.  Perhaps,  therefore,  we  shall  see  each  other 
very  soon  again,  and  the  most  agreeable  hope  that  attracts 
me  towards  home  is  that  of  sharing  with  you  the  booty  I 
have  taken,  and  to  attain  to  an  ever  closer  union  theoreti- 
cally and  practically.  We  will  see  what  more  we  can 
still  pick  up  on  the  way.  Thus  Basle,  on  account  of  its 
proximity  to  France,  has  a  particular  charm  for  me  ;  fine 
works  of  Art  are  also  to  be  found  there. 


^48 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


The  conclusion  of  the  Almanac  I  hope  still  to  receive 
in  Zurich  ;  Cotta  is  very  regular  in  his  transmissions. 

The  Ibycus  I  find  very  well  done,  and  the  conclusion 
cannot  be  improved.  I  wish  now  much  to  overlook  the 
whole.  As  my  Pretty  Maid  of  the  Mill  has  found  a  good 
reception,!  send  another  song  that  we  owe  to  her  charms. 
It  will  be  very  well  if  the  next  Almanac  is  rich  in  songs, 
and  the  Bell  must  only  sound  so  much  the  better  for  the 
metal  having  been  kept  longer  in  flux  and  purified  of  all 
dross. 

G. 

CCCLXVIII. 

Staefa,  17th  October,  1797. 

I  HAVE  not  been  able  to  find  either  time  or  mood  to  make 
an  extract  out  of  my  larger  diary,  in  order  to  advise  you 
more  particularly  of  our  mountain  tour  ;  I  will  therefore 
briefly  just  say  here,  that  we  went  from  Richterswiel  to 
Einsiedel,  and  thence  to  Schwytz  and  Brunnen :  from 
thence  we  went  by  the  lake  to  Fluellen,  thence  to  Altorf, 
and  ascended  the  Gotthardt,  and  returned.  In  Fluellen  we 
took  boat  again  and  landed  at  Beckenrieth,  in  the  Canton 
of  Unterwaiden,  went  on  foot  to  Stanz  and  Stanz-Stade, 
whence  we  crossed  the  lake  to  Küsnacht,  went  to  Immi- 
see,  took  boat  to  Zug,  walked  to  Horgen,  and  in  a  boat 
came  again  over  here  to  Staefa. 

On  this  short  journey  we  saw  the  greatest  variety  of 
objects  and  met  with  the  most  different  climates,  of  which 
hereafter  more. 

On  the  famous  matter  of  the  subjects  of  the  plastic  arts, 
a  small  treatise  is  sketched  and  in  some  measure  executed  ; 
you  will  find  in  it  the  passages  of  your  letter  as  notes. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


349 


We  are  now  on  the  motives,  as  the  second  in  importance 
after  the  subject  is  given  :  for  only  through  motives  does 
the  inner  organization  take  place  ;  then  we  shall  pass  to 
the  composition,  and  thus  proceed.  We  shall  confine  our- 
selves to  plastic  art,  and  are  curious  how  it  will  coincide 
with  the  poetry  which  we  herewith  again  commend  to 
you. 

Fare  you  right  well — greet  those  dearest  to  you.  If 
you  wish  to  say  a  word  in  answer  to  this  letter,  only  send 
it  to  Cotta.  Since  yesterday  the  accounts  from  the  Rhine 
sound  very  warlike,  and  in  the  end  we  shall  have  to  sneak 
home  by  a  back  way  through  Swabia  and  Franconia. 
Once  more  the  best  farewell. 

Meyer  sends  best  greetings.  Just  at  this  moment  the 
Aldohrandinian  Marriage  has  arrived,  which  we  have  been 
long  expecting  from  Rome,  through  Trieste,  Villach  and 
Constance.  All  our  treasures  are  now  together,  and  we 
can  now  enter  upon  our  journey,  quieted  and  gladdened  on 
this  point  likewise. 


CCCLXX. 

Jena,  20ih  October,  1797. 

A  FEW  days  since  Böttejer  sent  us  two  handsome  copies 
of  your  Herrmann,  with  which  we  were  much  pleased. 
So  then  it  is  now  fairly  in  the  world,  and  we  shall  hear 
how  the  voice  of  an  Homeric  rhapsodist  will  sound  in  this 
modern  politico-rhetorical  world.  I  have  read  the  poem 
again  with  the  old  unweakened  impression  and  with  new 
emotion  ;  it  is  absolutely  perfect  in  its  kind,  it  is  powerful 
in  pathos,  and  yet  graceful  in  the  highest  degree  ;  in  short, 
it  is  beautiful,  say  what  one  will. 


350 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


Meister  also  I  have  read  again  quite  lately,  and  it  was  nev- 
er so  strikingly  apparent  to  me  how  much  there  is  in  the  out- 
ward form.  The  form  of  Meister — as  generally  the  form 
of  every  novel — is  absolutely  not  poetical ;  it  is  entirely 
confined  to  the  region  of  the  understanding,  is  subjected 
to  all  the  understanding's  requisitions,  and  shares  also  all 
its  limits.  But  because  it  is  a  thoroughly  poetic  genius, 
who  avails  himself  of  this  form,  and  in  this  form  ex- 
pressed poetic  conditions,  there  arises  a  singular  fluctuating 
between  a  prosaic  and  a  poetic  mood,  for  which  I  have  no 
appropriate  name.  I  might  say  there  is  wanting  to  Meis- 
ter (that  is,  to  the  novel)  a  certain  poetic  boldness,  be- 
cause, as  novel,  it  always  aims  to  satisfy  the  understand- 
ing ;  and  at  the  same  time  there  is  wanting  a  sobriety 
(which  itself  gives  you  cause  to  expect),  because  it  has 
flowed  out  of  a  poetic  spirit.  Spell  this  together  as  you 
can  ;  I  give  you  merely  my  feeling. 

As  you  stand  on  such  a  point,  that  you  must  require  of 
yourself  the  highest,  and  the  objective  and  subjective 
must  flow  wholly  into  one,  it  is  therefore  very  necessary  to 
take  care  that  that  which  your  genius  can  put  into  one 
work,  shall  always  seize  the  purest  form,  and  that  nothing 
be  lost  in  an  impure  medium.  Who  does  not  feel  in  Meis- 
ter what  it  is  that  makes  Herrmann  so  enchanting !  The 
former  w^ants  nothing  of  your  genius ;  it  seizes  hold  of 
the  heart  with  all  the  powers  of  poetry,  and  gives  an  ever 
self-renewing  enjoyment ;  and  yet  Herrmann  leads  me  (and 
that  solely  through  its  pure  poetic  form)  into  a  divine  poetic 
world,  while  Meister  does  not  entirely  let  me  out  of  a  real 
Avorld. 

As  I  am  criticising,  I  will  make  one  more  remark, 
which  forced  itself  upon  me  at  this  perusal.    There  is 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


351 


obviously  too  much  of  tragedy  in  Meister ;  I  mean  the 
bodeful,  the  incomprehensible,  the  subjectively  marvellous, 
which  is  indeed  compatible  with  poetic  depth  and  obscur- 
ity, but  not  with  the  clearness  that  should  reign  in  the 
novel  and  does  also  reign  in  this  one  so  pre-eminently.  It 
incommodes  one  to  come  upon  this  want  of  solidity,  where 
you  think  you  feel  firm  ground  everywhere  under  you,  and 
to  come  upon  such  riddles,  while  everything  else  is  so 
beautifully  unravelled  for  the  contentment  of  the  under- 
standing. In  short,  to  me  it  seems  that  you  have  here 
availed  yourself  of  a  means  to  which  the  spirit  of  the  work 
did  not  entitle  you. 

For  the  rest  1  cannot  sufficiently  say  to  you  how  much 
at  this  new  reading  Meister  has  enriched,  animated,  de- 
lighted me ;  for  me  there  flows  therein  a  spring  at  which 
I  can  draw  nourishment  for  every  faculty  of  the  soul,  and 
particularly  for  that  one  which  is  the  combined  action 
of  all. 

SCH. 

CCCLXXI. 

Zurich,  25th  October,  179  7. 

Before  I  leave  Zlirich,  only  a  few  words !  for  I  am 
very  much  pre-occupied,  and  shall,  too,  continue  so  for 
awhile,  for  we  think  of  going  to  Basle,  thence  to  SchafT- 
hausen,  Tuebingen,  and  so  further  ;  probably  at  the  latter 
place,  I  shall  again  find  something  from  you.  No  Alma- 
nac of  the  Muses,  no  Herrmann  have  I  yet  seen;  all  that, 
and  more  besides,  I  suppose  I  shall  meet  with  in  Ger- 
many. 

Were  the  season  not  so  far  advanced,  I  should  like  to 
look  about  for  a  month  longer  in  Switzerland,  in  order  to 


352 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


inform  myself  of  the  political  and  social  relations  generally . 
It  is  strange  how  old  constitutions,  that  are  merely  founded 
on  being  and  conserving,  look  in  times  when  everything  is 
striving  towards  growth  and  change.  I  will  say  nothing 
further  to-day  than  a  hearty  farewell.  From  Tuebingen 
you  will  hear  further  from  me. 

G. 

CCCLXXII. 

Jena,  30lh  October,  1797. 

Thank  God  that  I  once  more  have  news  of  you  I  These 
three  weeks  that  you  were  travelling  about  in  the  moun- 
tains, cut  off  from  us,  got  to  be  long  to  me.  So  much  the 
more  was  T  gladdened  by  your  dear  letter,  and  all  that  it 
contained.  The  idea  of  the  William  Tell  is  very  happy, 
and  rightly  considered  you  could,  after  the  Meister  and  the 
Herrmann,  only  treat  a  locally  characteristic  subject,  such 
as  this,  with  the  full  originality  of  your  genius,  and  with 
freshness  of  mood.  The  interest  which  springs  out  of  a 
strictly  circumscribed  characteristic  locality,  and  a  certain 
historical  compactness,  is  perhaps  the  only  one  that  you 
have  not  taken  away  from  yourself  by  these  two  preceding 
works.  These  two  works  are,  moreover,  as  regards  the 
subject,  aesthetically  free,  and  however  concentrated  the 
locale  looks  and  is  in  both,  it  is  nevertheless  a  pure  poetic 
ground,  and  represents  a  whole  world.  With  Tell  the 
case  will  be  quite  different ;  out  of  the  significant  narrow 
bounds  of  the  given  subject  will  proceed  the  whole  of  the 
life  and  spirit.  Here  the  poet  will  be  able,  by  his  power, 
to  limit  the  reader,  and  in  that  limitation  intensely  to  affect 
and  occupy  him.  At  the  same  time,  out  of  this  fine  mate- 
rial will  open  itself  a  view  into  a  certain  wide  expanse  of 
the  human  race,  as  between  high  mountains  a  vista  opens 
into  the  free  distance. 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


353 


How  much  I  desire  on  account  of  this  poem  to  be  again 
with  you  !  You  would,  perhaps,  now  the  more  easily  ac- 
custom yourself  to  speaking  with  me  of  it,  as  the  unity  and 
purity  of  your  Herrmann  was  not  in  the  least  disturbed  by 
your  conversations  about  it  with  me  while  you  were  at 
work.  And  I  acknowledge  that  I  know  nothing  in  the 
world  from  which  I  have  learnt  more  than  from  those  com- 
munications, which  introduced  me  right  into  the  centre 
of  art. 

The  song  of  the  Millstream  is  charming,  and  greatly 
delighted  us.  It  is  in  an  uncommonly  pleasing  dress,which 
allows  the  imagination  a  captivating  play ;  the  measure, 
too,  is  very  happily  chosen.  The  distichs,  likewise,  are 
very  pleasing. 

Humboldt  has  written  at  last,  and  that  from  Munich. 
He  is  now  on  his  way  to  Basle,  where  he  will  determine 
whether  the  journey  to  Paris  shall  be  given  up  or  not. 
You  he  will  therefore  hardly  meet,  unless  you  spend  the 
winter  in  Zürich,  whither  he  will  betake  himself  if  he  does 
not  go  to  Paris.  A  large  salt-mine  near  Berchholdsgaden, 
into  which  he  went,  he  describes  very  prettily.  The  Ba- 
varian nation  he  seems  to  like  very  much,  and  a  minister 
of  war  there,  Rumford,  he  praises  highly,  on  account  of 
his  beautiful  and  philanthropical  institutions. 

We  are  now  again  in  the  town,  where  we  are  all  welL 
I  am  working  zealously  at  the  Wallenstein,  but  get  on 
slowly  notwithstanding,  because  the  bulky  and  unmanage- 
able material  gives  me  so  very  much  to  do. 

The  Almanac  you  have  now  received,  as  well  as  my 
letters  of  the  2d,  6th,  and  20th  October,  as  I  hope. 

Fare  you  right  well,  with  Meyer,  whom  we  heartily 
greet.    May  our  good  genius  soon  bring  you  back  to  us. 


354 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


My  wife  will  herself  write  you  a  few  lines.  I  recently 
read  the  Herrmann  to  a  company  of  friends  in  one  evening 
from  beginning  to  end ;  it  again  affected  us  indescribably, 
and  to  me  it  brought  back  again  so  vividly  the  evenings 
when  you  read  it  to  us,  that  I  was  doubly  moved.  Once 
more,  farewell ! 

ScH. 

CCCLXXIII. 

TuEBiNGEN,  30th  October,  1797. 

We  gave  up  the  tour  to  Basle,  and  have  come  directly 
to  Tuebingen.  The  season,  weather  and  road,  are  no 
longer  inviting,  and  as  we  do  not  wish  to  remain  abroad, 
we  can  now  from  this  turn  our  steps  towards  home  ;  what 
way  we  shall  take,  is  still  undecided. 

The  Almanac  we  first  received  here,  and  enjoyed  espe- 
cially the  Forge.  You  have  scarcely  done  anything  with 
such  happy  humor,  and  the  retarding  Mass  is  of  the  best 
effect.    The  Secret,  also,  is  very  praiseworthy. 

I  am  glad  that  Herrmann  is  in  your  hands,  and  that  he 
holds  his  own.  What  you  say  of  Meister,  I  understand 
perfectly  well ;  it  is  all  true,  and  even  more.  It  was  pre- 
cisely its  incompleteness  that  gave  me  the  most  trouble.  A 
pure  form  helps  and  supports,  while  an  impure  one  every- 
where hinders  and  drags.  He  may,  however,  be  what  he 
is ;  it  will  not  easily  happen  to  me  again  to  make  a  mis- 
take in  the  subject  and  the  form,  and  we  wait  to  see  what 
our  Genius  will  vouchsafe  to  us  in  the  autumn  of  life. 

Much  joy  to  Wallenstein !  I  hope  that  when  we 
come  a  part  will  be  already  visible.  Meyer  sends  best 
greetings.  May  we  find  you  and  yours  in  excellent  health. 
From  the  half  of  our  way,  from  Frankfort  or  Nuremberg, 
you  will  hear  once  more  from  us. 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


355 


Humboldt  has  written  from  Munich,  and  goes  to  Basle. 
Once  more  farewell,  with  the  hope  of  soon  meeting  again. 

G. 

CCCLXXIV. 

To  our  especial  joy  we  have  found  Knebel  here,  and 
we  shall  therefore  tarry  somewhat  longer  than  we  intend- 
ed. The  town  offers  much  that  is  interesting,  old  works 
of  art,  mechanic  labors  ;  there  are  likewise  many  observa- 
tions to  be  made  on  political  relations.  I  say  to  you, 
therefore,  only  a  word  of  greeting,  and  send  a  poem.  It 
is  the  fourth  in  honor  of  the  handsome  maid  of  the  mills. 
The  third  is  not  yet  ready  ;  it  will  have  the  title.  Treason, 
and  will  relate  the  history,  how  the  young  man  was  badly 
received  in  the  mill.  Soon  I  shall  have  the  pleasure  to 
embrace  you  again,  and  to  ask  your  thoughts  on  a  hundred 
things. 

Nuremberg,  10th  November,  1797. 

G. 

CCCLXXV. 

Jena,  22d  November,  1797. 

Once  more  I  wish  you  joy  on  your  happy  arrival. 
How  agreeable  it  is  to  me  to  be  able  again  to  communi- 
cate with  you  so  easily  and  quickly !  What  you  have 
brought  with  you,  of  things  and  ideas,  promises  me  a 
Winter  rich  in  entertainment  and  instruction,  and  doubly 
glad  am  I  that  I  can  pass  a  part  of  it  near  you.  For  the 
theatre  we  must  try  to  do  something,  although  no  one  but 
ourselves  were  to  learn  somewhat  from  the  trial.  Have 
you  got  a  sight  of  Einsiedel's  work  thereupon?  Here  is 
one  man  more,  at  least,  who  strives  to  utter  something  on 
this  matter,  and,  in  a  certain  circle,  will  nourish  an  inte- 
rest in  it. 


356 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


Here  are  the  letters  of  Garve,  which  will  display  Ger- 
man nature  to  you  in  a  different,  though  kindred,  way  from 
the  letter  of  Raethselman. 

The  money,  together  with  the  Almanacs,  the  carrier- 
girl  will  take  with  her  the  day  after  to-morrow.  Had  I 
known  that  you  wished  to  redeem  the  gold  again,  I  would 
certainly  not  have  taken  it. 

Farewell  for  to-day.  More  on  Friday.  Greetings  to 
Meyer. 

SCH. 

CCCLXXVI 

The  four  Carolins*  T  send  back,  with  thanks,  and  beg 
to  have  instead  my  golden  Gail.  I  have,  likewise,  yet  to 
thank  for  the  amount  of  the  Almanac,  so  soon  made  over 
through  Gotta.  The  proverb,  what  is  won  through  the 
flute  is  spent  through  the  drum,  I  have  verified  in  the  bet- 
ter sense,  inasmuch  as  I  have  for  this  amount  bought  a 
work  of  Art,  that  will  give  you  pleasure  too,  and  will 
elevate  and  animate  our  mutual  enjoyments  and  acquire- 
ments. Meyer  has  already  opened  to  you  something  of 
our  latest  speculations,  and  rejoices  much  in  your  partici- 
pation and  cooperation.  So  soon  as  I  shall  have  rested  a 
little,  I  will  draw  up  our  theses,  in  order  then  to  confer 
thereupon,  and  to  construct  a  successful  whole.  I  am 
convinced  that  we  shall  make  fine  progress  this  Winter. 

I  sat  yesterday,  for  the  first  time,  in  your  box,  and  wish 
soon  to  conduct  you  into  it  again.  As  I  looked  at  the 
representation  altogether  as  a  stranger,  I  was  astonished 
to  see  how  far  our  people  really  are  !  On  a  certain  level 
road  of  nature  and  prose,  they  do  their  business  well  be- 


*  A  gold  coin. 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


357 


yond  measure  ;  but,  alas  !  the  moment  only  a  tincture 
merely  of  poetry  shows  itself,  as,  however,  always  happens 
where  there  is  even  the  gentlest  movement  of  the  pathetic, 
they  are  instantly  either  null  or  false.  It  seemed  extraor- 
dinary to  me  that  the  author  of  the  piece,  Ziegler,  appears 
to  be  just  in  this  condition  ;  he  discovers  right  clever 
comic  motives,  and  because  these  produce  their  effect  ex- 
temporaneously, he  handles  them  mostly  very  well ;  but 
all  tender,  sentimental  and  pathetic  situations,  for  which 
preparation  must  be  made,  and  which  are  to  have  a  result, 
he  knows  not  how  to  treat,  even  when  he  has  got  hold  of 
them  ;  they  trip  up  one  another,  and  produce  no  effect, 
although  they  are  not  badly  planned.  I  promise  myself 
from  your  presence  much  good  for  the  Theatre  and  for 
yourself.  I  hope  by  the  time  of  your  arrival  to  be  com- 
pletely resettled. 

For  the  Horen  already  sent,  I  give  my  best  thanks,  and 
now  beg  also  for  some  copies  of  the  Almanac.  The  en- 
closed letter  is  another  genuine  evidence  of  contracted 
Germanism. 

Fare  you  well.  We  are  by  degrees  unpacking  our 
treasures,  and  arrangements  are  already  made  for  showing 
them.  By  the  time  you  come,  everything  will  be  in  the 
finest  order. 

Weimar,  22d  November,  1797. 

G. 

CCCLXXVII. 

Jena,  24th  November,  1797. 

I  HAVE  never  yet  been  so  palpably  convinced,  as  in  my 
present  occupation,  how  closely  in  Poetry  substance  and 
form  are  connected  together.  Since  I  have  begun  to 
transform  my  prosaic  language  into  a  poetic  rhythmical  one, 


358 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


I  find  myself  under  a  totally  different  jurisdiction  than 
before  ;  even  many  motives,  which  in  the  prosaic  execu- 
tion seemed  to  be  perfectly  in  place,  I  can  now  no  longer 
use  :  they  were  merely  good  for  the  common  domestic 
understanding,  whose  organ  prose  seems  to  be  ;  but  verse 
absolutely  requires  references  to  the  imagination,  and  thus 
I  was  obliged  to  become  more  poetical  in  many  of  my 
motives.  Everything  that  ought  to  be  elevated  above  the 
common,  should  really  be  conceived,  at  least  in  the  begin- 
ning, in  verse,  for  the  flat  shows  itself  nowhere  so  con- 
spicuously as  when  it  is  uttered  in  metrical  language. 

In  my  present  labors  an  observation  has  presented  itself 
to  me,  which  you,  perhaps,  also,  have  already  made.  It 
seems  that  a  part  of  the  poetic  interest  lies  in  the  antago- 
nism between  the  matter  itself  and  the  mode  of  setting  it 
forth.  Is  the  matter  very  poetically  significant,  then  a 
somewhat  meagre  dress  and  a  simplicity  of  diction 
amounting  to  commonness  will  very  well  become  it ; 
whereas,  on  the  contrary,  an  unpoetic  common  matter, 
such  as  it  is  often  necessary  to  have  in  a  large  whole, 
acquires  poetic  dignity  through  an  animated  and  rich' dic- 
tion. Where  the  matter  is  of  this  unpoetic  character, 
then  it  is,  I  think,  that  the  ornaments  required  by  Aristotle 
must  come  in,  for  in  a  poetic  work  there  should  be  nothing 
common. 

In  a  dramatic  production  rhythm  has  this  great  and  im- 
portant effect,  that,  by  treating  all  characters  and  all  situa- 
tions according  to  one  law,  and  exhibiting  them,  in  spite 
of  their  inward  differences,  in  one  form,  it  thereby  forces 
the  poet  and  his  reader  to  require  from  all,  however  char- 
acteristically different,  something  universal  and  purely 
human.    Everything  has  to  unite  in  the  generic  idea  of 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


359 


the  poetical,  and  rhythm  is  as  well  the  representative  as 
the  instrument  of  this  law,  by  which  everything  is  embrac- 
ed. In  this  way  rhythm  forms  the  atmosphere  for  poetic 
creation,  the  gross  remains  behind,  only  the  spiritual  can 
be  carried  by  this  thin  element. 

You  here  receive  eight  Almanacs.  Properly,  six  on 
vellum  were  intended  for  you,  but  through  some  confusion 
it  happened  that  my  supply  of  handsome  copies  was  all 
exhausted  before  I  knew  it.  I  send,  therefore,  two  copies 
more,  and  this  you,  perhaps,  prefer.  The  Duchess 
has  received  one  from  me,  as  also  Privy-Counsellor  Voigt, 
Herder,  Boettiger. 

Zelter  wishes  to  know  how  you  are  satisfied  with  his 
Melodies  to  the  Bajadere  and  the  Song  of  Mignon.  He 
writes  that  an  Almanac  won  for  him  a  bet  of  six  bottles  of 
champagne,  for  he  maintained  against  some  one,  that  it 
would  certainly  contain  no  Xenia. 

Farewell,  and  provide  that  I  soon  receive  something 
from  your  aesthetic  treasures  to.  read.  Many  greetings  to 
Meyer. 

SCH. 

CCCLXXVIII. 

Wkimar,  24th  November,  1797. 

I  SEND  back  the  letters  of  Garve  with  thanks,  and  wish 
that  the  poor  sick  old  man  had  abused  us  still  more  sharp- 
ly, if  thereby  he  could  become  healthy  and  happy  for  the 
rest  of  his  life.  On  reading  these  pages,  what  a  litany  of 
most  lamentable  considerations  present  themselves,  the 
recital  of  which  I  spare  you,  because  they  will  all  have 
occurred  to  yourself.  In  this  good  and  valiant  man,  you 
cannot  discover  a  trace  of  aesthetic  feeling.    From  one 


360 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


side  his  judgments  are  grossly  material,  and  from  the  other, 
he  handles  the  matter  like  a  master  of  ceremonies,  in 
order  to  be  very  particular  in  assigning  to  subordinate 
talents  their  little  place.  It  is  only  well  that  you  have 
again  conciliated  him  with  three  words. 

How  natural  such  judges  of  morals  find  it,  that  an  author 
should,  during  his  whole  life,  let  his  best  endeavors  be 
mistaken,  himself  retarded,  teased,  vexed,  and  worried, 
because  forsooth  it  is  so  established  !  And  therewith  he 
ought  to  be  patient,  mindful  of  his  high  worth,  and  stand 
there  with  his  hands  crossed  over  each  other,  like  an  ecce 

homo,  merely  in  order  that  Mr.  ,  and  his  like,  may  also 

pass  for  poets  in  their  way. 

But  enough  of  such  pitiful  matters  !  Let  us  push  for- 
ward on  our  way,  ever  steadfastly  and  vigorously. 

G. 

CCCLXXIX. 

25th  November. 

For  letter  and  package,  which  I  have  this  moment 
received,  I  thank  you  cordially,  and  only  say  in  haste  and 
impromptu,  that  I  am  not  only  of  your  opinion,  but  even  go 
much  further.  Whatever  is  poetical  should  be  treated 
rhythmically.  That  is  my  conviction,  and  the  belief,  that 
by  degrees  a  poetical  prose  might  be  introduced,  only 
shows  that  the  difference  between  prose  and  poetry  is 
entirely  lost  sight  of.  It  is  no  better  than  if  some  one 
should  order  to  be  made  in  his  park  a  lake  that  could  be 
drained,  and  the  landscape-gardener  endeavored  to  execute 
the  order  by  forming  a  marsh.  What  is  neither  one  thing 
nor  the  other,  is  for  amateurs  and  dabblers,  just  as  marshes 
are  for  amphibious  animals.    In  the  meanwhile  the  evil 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


361 


has  become  so  great  in  Germany,  that  no  one  any  longer 
sees  it ;  nay,  like  that  scrofulous  people  that  is  told  of, 
they  rather  look  upon  a  healthily  made  neck  as  a  punish- 
ment from  God.  All  dramatic  works  (and  perhaps  come- 
dy and  farce  generally)  should  be  rhythmical,  and  we 
should  then  sooner  see  who  could  do  something.  For  the 
present,  however,  nothing  is  left  to  the  dramatic  poet  but  to 
accommodate  himself  to  public  taste ;  and  in  this  sense, 
you  could  not  be  blamed  if  you  chose  to  write  your  Wal- 
lenstein in  prose  ;  do  you  however  regard  it  as  an  self-de- 
pendent work,  then  it  must  necessarily  become  rhythmi- 
cal. 

At  all  events,  we  are  obliged  to  forget  our  age,  if  we 
wish  to  work  according  to  our  convictions  :  for,  such  a 
shallow  vulgarity  in  principles  as  at  present  prevails  has 
assuredly  never  yet  been  in  the  world,  and  what  good  the 
new  philosophy  will  do,  we  have  yet  to  wait  for. 

Poetry  is  in  strictness  founded  on  the  exhibition  of  the 
empiric  pathological  condition  of  man ;  but  who  among 
our  admirable  judges  and  so-called  poets  at  present 
acknowledges  this  ?  Has  a  man  like  Garve,  who,  how- 
ever, pretends  to  have  been  thinking  all  his  life,  and  passed 
for  a  kind  of  philosopher,  even  the  feeblest  glimmering  of 
such  an  axiom  ?  Does  he  not,  therefore,  hold  you  to  be 
a  meritorious  poet  because  you  amused  yourself  with  utter- 
ing the  judgments  of  Reason  with  a  poetic  mouth  ?  the  which 
is  to  be  allowed,  but  not  to  be  praised.  How  willingly 
would  I  permit  these  prosaic  natures  to  start  back  with  hor- 
ror from  the  so-called  immoral  subjects,  if  they  had  a  feel- 
ing for  the  higher  poetic  moral,  for  example,  in  the  Poly- 
crates  and  Ibycus,  and  were  thereby  delighted. 

Let  us,  particularly  as  Meyer  has  brought  with  him  out 

ir> 


3G2 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


of  Italy  a  grim  rigorism,  grow  ever  severer  in  principles, 
and  more  sure  and  pleasing  in  execution.  The  latter  can 
only  happen  by  fixing  our  looks  while  at  work  only 
within  the  frame. 

Herewith  my  Elegy,  with  the  wish  for  a  friendly  recep- 
tion. 

To  Zelter  we  remain  debtors  six  bottles  of  champagne 
for  the  firm,  good  conviction  he  had  of  us.  His  Indian 
Legei\d  I  esteem  highly.  The  thought  is  original  and 
happy ;  the  song  of  Mignon  I  have  not  yet  even  heard. 
Composers  play  only  their  own  things,  and  amateurs  have 
likewise  only  particularly  favored  pieces.  On  my  whole 
route  I  found  no  one  who  would  have  been  disposed  to 
master,  by  study,  something  foreign  and  new. 

I  beg  you  to  let  me  have  some  copies  of  the  melodies  to 
the  Almanac  ;  they  are  wanting  to  all  those  sent  to  me. 

May  you  be  very  successful  with  your  Wallenstein,  in 
order  that  we  may  the  sooner  see  you  with  us. 

A  hearty  farewell  and  greeting  to  your  family. 

G. 

CCCLXXX. 

In  the  package  sent  I  have  found  the  song-melodies  to 
the  Almanac,  for  which  I  give  you  thanks  ;  but  there  is  no 
letter,  which  though  at  the  end  and  in  the  middle  of  the 
week  comes  to  me  always  so  wished  for.  But  I  also  have 
little  to  communicate,  inasmuch  as  for  the  last  few  days 
1  have  lived  only  in  the  world,  and  have  neither  thought 
nor  done  anything  that  would  have  for  us  both  a  common 
interest.  We  are  still  busied  in  setting  up  the  things  of 
Art  we  brought  with  us,  and  I  think  all  will  be  in  tbe  best 
condition  before  you  come  over  here. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


363 


I  wish  much  to  hear  how  your  rhythmical  Wallenstein 
thrives.  For  myself  I  am  just  now  in  such  a  state,  as  if 
1  had  never  made  or  should  make  a  poem.  It  is  best  that 
the  mood  for  poetry  comes  unexpected  and  uncalled. 

Fare  you  right  well,  and  let  me  soon  hear  something  of 
you,  your  condition  and  labors. 

Weimar,  28th  November,  1797. 

G. 

CCCLXXXI. 

».  Jena,  28th  November,  1797. 

With  your  Elegy  you  have  again  given  us  great  plea- 
sure ;  it  belongs  so  truly  to  the  pure  poetic  species,  as 
through  so  simple  a  means,  through  a  sportful  use  of  the 
subject,  it  stirs  up  the  deepest  and  points  to  the  highest. 

May  many  such  moods  cheer  you  in  these  gloomy,  op- 
pressive days,  which  to  you  also  I  know  are  so  fatal !  I 
need  all  my  elasticity,  in  order  to  make  myself  air  and 
room  against  the  down-weighing  heavens. 

I  read  lately  the  Shakspearian  pieces  which  treat  of  the 
War  of  the  Two  Roses,  and  am  now,  after  finishing  Richard 
III.,  filled  with  amazement.  This  last  is  one  of  the  sub- 
limest  tragedies  that  I  know,  and  at  this  moment  I  could 
not  say  whether  even  any  other  one  of  Shakspeare  can 
rank  before  it.  The  great  destinies,  woven  in  the  preced- 
ing pieces,  are  ended  in  this  in  a  truly  great  manner,  and 
they  connect  themselves  together  according  to  the  most 
sublime  idea.  That  the  subject  of  itself  excludes  entirely 
the  tender,  the  melting,  the  tear-moving,  assists  this  high 
effect ;  everything  therein  is  energetic  and  great — naught 
common  disturbs  the  pure  aesthetic  emotion,  and  it  is,  as 
it  were,  the  pure  form  of  the  dread  tragic  that  one  enjoys. 
A  high  Nemesis  stalks  through  the  piece,  in  all  the  figures  ; 


364 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


one  loses  not  this  sensation  from  the  beginning  to  the  end. 
It  is  wonderful  how  the  Poet  was  always  able  to  win  a 
poetic  booty  from  the  unwieldy  material,  and  how  skilfully 
he  represents  that  which  cannot  be  distinctly  represented. 
I  mean  his  art  in  employing  symbols  where  the  real  thing 
cannot  be  displayed.  No  Shakspearian  piece  has  reminded 
me  so  much  of  the  Greek  tragedy. 

It  were  verily  worth  while  to  prepare  this  series  of  eight 
pieces  for  the  stage,  with  all  the  judgment  that  can  now 
be  exercised  in  such  a  matter.  An  epoch  might  be  there- 
by introduced.    We  really  must  confer  thereon. 

Fare  you  well  with  our  friend  Meyer.  My  Wallenstein 
gains  daily  more  shape,  and  I  am  well  satisfied  with 
myself. 

SCH. 

CCCLXXXII. 

As  you  say  so  much  good  of  my  Elegy,  I  am  the  more 
sorry  that  I  have  not  for  a  long  while  been  in  a  similar 
mood.  That  poem  was  made  on  my  entrance  into  Switz- 
erland, since  which  time  my  active  productive  I  has  been 
put  under  restraint  in  so  many  agreeable  and  disagreeable 
ways,  that  it  has  not  yet  been  able  to  gather  itself  up  :  we 
must  now  therefore  wait  in  all  humility. 

I  wish  much  that  you  might  be  allowed  to  work  up  the 
Shakspearian  productions.  When  you  shall  have  got  your- 
self in  practice  by  the  writing  of  Wallenstein,  such  an 
undertaking  would  not  be  difficult  for  you. 

Farewell.  The  season  exercises  its  rights  on  me,  and 
as  this  time  I  can  communicate  to  you  nothing  cheerful  out 
of  my  own  powers,  I  send  you  a  '^ish  ode,  which  will  not 
fail  of  its  effect. 

Weimar,  29th  November,  1797. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


365 


CCCLXXXIII. 

Jena,  1st  December,  1797. 

Don't  quarrel  with  me  because  the  Comedy  you  asked 
for  does  not  come  with  this  to-day  ;  it  was  only  late  in  the 
evening  by  candlelight  that  it  occurred  to  me  to  look  for  it, 
and  that  I  did  for  half  an  hour  ineffectually.  I  will  send 
it  by  the  post  on  Sunday. 

It  is  getting  to  be  quite  a  trouble  to  me  how  the  Wallen- 
stein swells  in  bulk,  particularly  now  that  the  Iambics,  al- 
though they  shorten  the  expression,  entertain  a  poetic  dis- 
position which  drives  one  into  diffuseness.  You  will  judge 
whether  I  should  and  could  be  shorter.  My  first  Act  is  so 
large  that  I  could  put  the  first  three  Acts  of  your  Iphigenia 
into  it  without  entirely  filling  it  up  ;  it  is  true,  the  after  Acts 
are  much  shorter.  The  exposition  requires  extensiveness, 
just  as  the  advancing  action  leads  to  intensiveness.  It 
seems  as  if  a  certain  epic  spirit  had  come  over  me,  which 
may  be  accounted  for  by  the  power  of  your  direct  influ- 
ences ;  yet  I  don't  believe  that  it  hurts  the  dramatic  spirit, 
because  it  was  perhaps  the  only  means  of  giving  a  poetic 
nature  to  this  prosaic  subject. 

I  begged  Meyer  lately  to  procure  for  me  a  drawing  of 
you  for  the  next  Almanac.  We  want  to  do  this  early,  so 
that  the  engraving  may  be  made  with  good  leisure.  I 
should  also  like  to  have  from  him  a  Nemesis  for  my  Wal- 
lenstein ;  it  is  an  interesting  and  significant  illustration. 
Meyer  will  think  of  one  that  has  a  tragic  character ;  I 
wish  to  have  it  as  vignette  on  the  title-page  itself. 

Can  I  not  soon  hope  for  something  for  the  Horen  from 
you  ?  In  these  gloomy  December  days,  one  can  do 
nothing  better  than  make  money  to  spend  in  fine  weather. 
Have  you  no  inclination  to  finish  now  the  chorus  ?  or  is 


366 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


there,  perhaps,  to  be  found  some  other  material  that  could 
be  more  quickly  got  ready  ?  I  am  very  poor,  and  yet  time 
will  not  stand  still. 

Fare  you  well,  and  enjoy  with  Meyer  your  treasures  of 
Art,  about  which  I  am  very  curious,  and  which  will  give 
us  occasion  for  specific  judgments  in  Art,  which  I  so 
much  need.    My  wife's  best  greetings. 

ScH. 

CCCLXXXIV. 

For  us,  practically  as  well  as  theoretically,  it  will  be  of 
the  greatest  importance  what  issue  your  Wallenstein  shall 
have.  Will  not  the  subject  yet  force  you  in  the  end  to 
get  up  a  cycle  of  pieces  ?  That  rhythm  allures  you  into 
breadth  is  perfectly  natural,  for  every  poetic  mood  is  flexi- 
ble and  accommodating.  I  am  very  desirous  to  hear  some- 
thing of  it. 

I  will  speak  with  Meyer  about  the  engravings  for  the 
Almanac  and  Wallenstein.  I  haven't  much  confidence  in 
a  portrait ;  it  is  difiicult  to  produce  anything  that  shall  be 
only  tolerable,  and  more  especially  of  this  small  size,  and 
engravers  treat  whatever  belongs  to  a  book  so  lightly  and 
carelessly.  Were  it  not  better  to  abide  by  the  general  and 
the  symbolical  ? 

I  myself,  since  my  return,  have  scarcely  been  able  to 
attain  to  a  mood  for  even  dictating  a  tolerable  letter.  The 
mass  of  objects  that  I  have  taken  up  is  very  great,  and  the 
interest  in  writing  out  and  working  up  has  been  very  much 
weakened  by  intercourse  with  Meyer.  So  soon  as  I  have 
once  talked  a  thing  thoroughly  over,  it  is  for  me  the  same 
as  finished  for  a  long  time. 

I  must  only  once  more  put  in  order  the  old  and  new 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


367 


that  lies  in  my  intellect  and  heart ;  I  would  very  willingly 
sencP  you  something  for  the  Horen ;  it  will  soon  appear 
what  I  can  furnish. 

Fare  you  right  well,  and  gladden  us  soon  with  your 
arrival,  and  greet  heartily  your  dear  wife. 

Weimar,  2(1  December,  1797. 

G. 

CCCLXXXV. 

Jena,  5th  December,  1797. 

I  CAN  only  write  you  a  greeting  this  gloomy  day. 
The  weather  weighs  upon  me  exceedingly,  and  stirs  up 
all  my  pains,  so  that  even  work  doesn't  gladden  me. 

After  mature  deliberation,  I  have  determined  that  I  shall 
do  better  to  pass  the  two  worst  Winter  months  here. 
January  and  February  are  dangerous  months  for  me,  be- 
cause in  them  I  have  already  been  attacked  twice  with 
inflammation  of  the  lungs.  The  slightest  cold  can,  during 
this  period,  bring  on  this  malady,  which  I  should  not  now, 
as  formerly,  be  able  to  withstand.  With  such  a  tendency 
a  change  of  habits  is  not  to  be  ventured  on,  and  in  Weimar 
I  should  not  dare  to  think  of  going  out  in  Winter.  But  as 
the  bespoken  lodgings  are  very  small,  and  could  scarcely 
hold  the  children,  I  should  have  but  a  sorry  existence. 
Moreover,  the  next  two  months  are  decisive  for  my  labors, 
and  therefore  nothing  must  press  upon  me  from  without. 

Some  months  later  I  will  seek  out  lodgings  near  you ; 
the  weather  will  then  be  milder,  I  shall  be  able  to  go  across 
the  street,  and  everything  will  be  easier  to  me. 

Perhaps  I  will  come  over  some  fine  December  day  on  a 
visit,  and  after  New  Year,  we  shall  be  able,  I  hope,  to 
have  you  and  Meyer  here. 


368 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


From  Zumsteg  in  Stuttgart  I  received  lately  a  letter, 
which  really  gave  me  pleasure.  He  writes  which  of'our 
poems  in  the  Almanac  pleases  him  most,  and — what  for  a 
long  time  we  have  not  been  accustomed  to  hear — ^he  has 
really  discovered  what  is  best.  He  also  writes  that  in  his 
region  the  Almanac  makes  a  universal  sensation. 

Farewell.  I  am  to-day  not  in  a  condition  to  say  any- 
thing. 

SCH. 

CCCLXXXVI. 

If  you  are  convinced  that  a  Winter  residence  in  Jena 
is  more  advantageous  for  your  health  and  your  labors,  I 
shall  be  glad  of  it,  as  I  shall  find  myself  obliged  to  go  over 
there  after  New  Year,  in  order,  in  some  measure,  to  gather 
myself  up,  and  how  strange  Jena  would  seem  to  me  if  I 
found  you  not  there.  I  now  rejoice  at  your  remaining,  as, 
in  case  I  had  been  obliged  to  leave  you  here,  I  should  have 
been  only  divided  against  myself. 

By  all  means  stick  to  your  Wallenstein ;  I  shall  soon  go 
at  my  Faust,  partly  to  be  rid  of  this  mongrel,  partly  to  pre- 
pare myself  for  a  higher  and  purer  mood,  perhaps  for  Tell. 
At  the  same  time  I  shall  occasionally  think  of  the  next 
Almanac  ;  perhaps,  too,  something  may  be  dropt  for  the 
Horen. 

Let  us  continue  resolutely  in  the  path  we  have  entered 
on.  We  cannot  fail  to  achieve  much  yet,  and  Meyer's  co- 
operation will  greatly  further  us.  We  can  also  be  certain 
of  the  sympathy  of  the  public  ;  for  although  one  always 
complains  of  it  as  a  whole,  it  nevertheless  contains  many 
cultivated  individuals,  who  know  how  to  appreciate  the 
honest  and  earnest  endeavors  of  an  author.  Meanwhile, 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


369 


let  the  old  laudator  temporis  acti  grieve  amidst  these  dregs 
of  the  eighteenth  century"  (see  the  November  number  of 
the  German  Mercury,  page  194) ;  as  much  clear  wine  as 
we  need  the  Muse  will  not  fail  to  pour  out  for  us.  To  see 
Meyer's  beautiful  things,  were  well  worth  a  December 
ride.    May  your  health  allow  it. 

Weimar,  6th  December,  1797. 

G. 


CCCLXXXVII. 

Jena,  8th  December,  1797. 

• 

I  AM  now  perfectly  reconciled  to  the  necessity  which 
detains  me  here  for  the  coming  months,  as  the  journey  to 
Weimar  would  not  have  been  the  way  for  me  to  be  oftener 
with  you,  and  so  let  us  with  thankfulness  begin  again  next 
month  our  old  life,  which  will  not  lose  by  Meyer's  pre- 
sence. It  is  not  at  all  bad  that  between  your  first  and 
second  epochs,  you  shove  in  Faust.  You  thereby  swell 
the  poetic  stream,  and  excite  in  yourself  an  impatient  de- 
sire for  the  new  fresh  production,  which  is  of  itself  half 
the  mood.  Faust,  when  you  shall  have  worked  through 
him,  will  certainly  not  leave  you  as  he  found  you ;  he  will 
exercise  and  sharpen  new  faculties  in  you,  and  thus  you 
will  come  richer  and  more  full  of  fire  to  your  new  work. 

I  will  keep  at  Wallenstein  as  much  as  I  can,  but  the 
pathological  interest  of  Nature  in  a  poetic  work  of  this 
kind  is  very  weakening  to  me.  Fortunately,  my  indispo- 
sition does  not  affect  my  mood ;  but,  owing  to  it,  a  cordial 
immersion  in  my  work  exhausts  me  the  quicker,  and  puts 
me  out  of  order.  Commonly,  therefore,  I  have  to  pay  for 
one  day  of  propitious  mood  with  five  or  six  days  of  op- 
pression and  suffering.    This  keeps  me  back  astonishing- 

16* 


370 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


ly,  as  you  can  well  conceive.  Still  I  do  not  give  up  the 
hope  of  seeing  Wallenstein  played  next  Summer  in  Wei- 
mar, and  of  being  next  Autumn  deeply  merged  in  my 
Knights  of  Malta. 

These  occupy  me  now  occasionally,  when  I  am  resting 
from  woik.  There  is  something  very  attractive  for  me  in 
such  subjects,  which,  by  their  nature,  isolate  themselves 
and  make  a  world  for  themselves.  I  have  made  good 
use  of  this  circumstance  in  Wallenstein  ;  and  in  the 
Knights  of  Malta  it  will  favor  me  still  more.  Not  only 
that  this  Order  is  really  an  individual  altogether  sui  gene- 
ris^ but  in  the  moment  of  dramatic  action  it  is  so  still  more . 
All  communication  with  the  rest  of  the  world  is  cut  off  by 
the  blockade  ;  it  is  concentrated  solely  upon  itself,  upon 
the  care  of  its  existence,  and  only  the  qualities  that  make 
it  the  Order  which  it  is,  can  at  this  moment  effect  its  pre- 
servation. 

This  piece  will  have  to  be  treated  as  simply  as  Wallen- 
stein is  complicated,  and  I  rejoice  beforehand  that  in  the 
simple  subject  I  shall  find  all  that  I  want,  and  shall  use  all 
that  I  find  significant.  I  can  execute  it  entirely  in  the 
Grecian  form,  and  according  to  the  plan  of  Aristotle,  with 
choruses,  and  without  the  division  into  Acts.  Can  you 
tell  me  where  the  division  into  Acts  originated  ?  In  Aris- 
totle, we  found  nothing  of  it ;  and  in  many  Grecian  pieces 
it  would  not  be  at  all  applicable. 

Körner  writes  me  that  Gessler  is  again  in  Dresden. 
His  Italian  he  has  left,  they  say,  in  Switzerland,  in  order 
further  to  form  her  there.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  she  will 
in  the  meantime  run  away  with  some  one  else. 

From  Humboldt,  I  have  heard  nothing  for  six  weeks, 
and  from  this  I  conclude  that  he  has  really  gone  to  Paris  : 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


371 


for,  were  he  quietly  settled  in  Switzerland,  mere  ennui 
would  have  made  him  write. 

Fare  you  well,  and  get  through  yet  happily  the  re- 
mainder of  this  month.  With  me,  all  are  just  now  well. 
My  wife  sends  yoir  best  greetings.  I  shall  have  great 
pleasure  in  showing  to  our  old  friend  Meyer  something  of 
Wallenstein. 

SCH. 

CCCLXXXVIII. 

The  information  that  you  will  not  come  to  us  this  Win- 
ter, has  grieved  our  actors.  It  appears  that  they  purposed 
to  do  themselves  honor  before  you.  I  have  consoled  them 
with  the  hope  that  you  woi:ld  visit  us  in  the  Spring.  Our 
Theatre  stands  in  need  of  such  a  new  stimulus,  which  I 
myself  cannot  give  it.  Between  him  who  has  to  com- 
mand, and  him  who  shall  give  to  such  an  establishment 
aesthetic  guidance,  there  is  a  very  great  difference.  The 
latter  must  act  upon  the  feelings,  and  must  therefore  show 
feeling  ;  the  former  must  close  up  all  his  avenues  of  sen- 
sibility in  order  to  keep  tight  together  the  political  and 
economical  form.  Whether  it  is  possible  to  combine  free 
reciprocal  influence  and  mechanical  direction,  I  know  not ; 
with  me,  at  least,  such  a  feat  has  not  yet  been  successful. 

I  can  very  well  understand  the  state  in  which  your  work 
puts  you.  Without  a  lively  pathological  interest,  neither 
could  I  ever  succeed  in  working  up  a  tragic  situation,  and 
I  have  therefore  rather  avoided  than  sought  it.  May  it 
not  have  been  one  of  the  advantages  of  the  ancients,  that 
the  highest  pathos  was  with  them  only  an  aesthetic  play, 
while  with  us  hearty  sincerity  must  cooperate  in  order  to 
produce  such  a  work  ?    I  do  not,  indeed,  sufficiently 


372 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


know  myself,  to  judge  whether  I  could  write  a  genuine 
tragedy ;  I  am  terrified  at  the  mere  thought  of  such  an 
undertaking,  and  am  almost  convinced  that  through  the 
mere  attempt  I  could  destroy  myself. 

I  have  still  a  fortnight's  work  before  me  in  order  to  get 
several  things  under  way,  to  bring  the  new  contracts  for 
the  theatre  into  order,  and  much  else.  But,  after  that,  T 
will  hasten  to  my  day-solitudes  in  the  Jena  palace,  and  to 
our  evening  talks. 

Meyer,  I  shall  not  bring  with  me,  for  I  have  again  re- 
newed the  experience,  that  I  can  only  work  in  an  absolute 
loneliness,  and  that  not  merely  conversation,  but  even  the 
presence  in  the  house  of  beloved  and  esteemed  persons, 
draws  ofT  entirely  my  poetic  springs.  I  should  now  be 
in  a  kind  of  despair,  because  every  trace  of  a  productive 
excitement  in  me  has  disappeared,  if  I  were  not  certain 
of  finding  it  again  during  the  first  eight  days  in  Jena. 

I  send  herewith  a  volume  of  poems  by  a  man,  who 
perhaps  would  already  have  come  to  something,  if  he  did 
not  live  in  Nuremberg,  and  knew  how  to  find  the  kind  of 
poetry  for  which  he  has  talent.  There  seems  to  me  to  be 
a  good  deal  of  humorous  merit  in  it,  although  there  are 
many  defects.  As  you  like  to  indulge  in  hope  about 
young  men,  and  can  make  use  of  all  kinds  of  contribu- 
tions, it  depends  on  you  whether  relations  shall  be  opened 
with  him,  and  encouragement  given  to  him. 

Fare  you  right  well.    Greet  your  dear  wife. 

Gessler  risks  much  by  leaving  the  beauty  to  herself.  I 
am  sorry  that  we  did  not  meet  him.  Meyer  knows  the 
lady.  For  the  rest,  there  are  many  other  strange  comets 
abroad  in  the  Heaven  of  Love  and  Hymen  ;  what  they 
betoken  and  bring  is  uncertain. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


373 


I  enclose,  likewise,  a  short  historical  Essay ;  tell  me 
your  opinion  of  it,  and  in  how  far  one  can  recommend  a 
small  collection  of  similar  works  to  a  publisher. 

Once  more  farewell. 

Weimar,  9th  December,  1797. 

G. 

CCCLXXXIX. 

Jena,  12th  December,  1797. 

As  I  just  now  have  the  love-scenes  in  the  second  Act  of 
Wallenstein  before  me,  I  cannot  think  without  heart-ache 
of  the  stage  and  the  theatrical  destination  of  the  piece. 
For  the  arrangement  of  the  whole  requires  that  love  shall 
— not  so  much  through  action,  as  rather  through  its  calm 
self-subsistence,  and  its  freedom  from  all  aims — put  itself 
in  opposition  to  the  remaining  action,  vi^hich  is  a  restless 
organized  striving  after  an  end,  and  thereby  completes  a 
certain  human  circle.  But,  in  this  quality,  it  is  not  adapt- 
ed to  the  stage,  at  least  not  in  the  sense  that  would  be 
practicable  with  our  means  of  representation  and  our 
public.  In  order,  therefore,  to  preserve  poetic  freedom,  I 
must  banish  from  my  mind  all  thought  of  scenic  represen- 
tation. 

Should  it  really  be  that  tragedy,  on  account  of  its  pathetic 
power,  does  not  accord  with  your  nature  ?  In  all  your 
poetic  creations,  I  find  the  entire  tragic  power  and  depth, 
such  as  would  suffice  for  a  complete  tragedy  ;  in  Wilhelm 
Meister  there  is,  as  far  as  regards  feeling,  more  than  one 
tragedy.  I  believe  that  merely  the  severe  straight  line, 
according  to  which  the  tragic  poet  must  proceed,  does  not 
suit  your  nature,  which  always  likes  to  express  itself  with 
a  freer  play  of  mind.  Then,  I  believe,  also,  a  certain  refer- 
ence to  the  spectator,  with  which  the  tragic  poet  cannot 


374 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


dispense,  the  aim  to  produce  an  effect,  the  outward  impres- 
sion, which  with  this  species  of  poetry  must  not  be  entire- 
ly overlooked,  hems  you  in  disagreeably,  and  perhaps  you 
are  the  less  adapted  for  a  tragic  poet  on  this  very  account, 
that  you  are  so  entirely  formed  for  a  poet  in  the  generic  sig- 
nificance of  the  word.  At  least,  I  find  in  you  all  the  poetic 
qualities  of  the  tragic  poet  in  the  richest  measure,  and  if, 
notwithstanding,  it  be  true  that  you  cannot  write  a  per- 
fectly genuine  tragedy,  the  cause  must  lie  in  the  un-poetic 
requisitions. 

Have  the  goodness  to  take  an  opportunity  of  enclosing  to 
me  some  play-bills,  on  which  are  all  the  actors. 

Your  idea  of  uniting  the  three  libraries  in  one  whole, 
every  reasonable  person  in  Jena  and  Weimar  will  assured- 
ly wish  carried  into  effect. 

*##*#**** 

Einsiedel's  work  on  the  theatre  contains  many  good 
opinions.  It  is  diverting  to  me  how  Dilettanti  of  this  kind 
express  themselves  on  certain  things,  which  can  only  be 
drawn  out  of  the  depth  of  science  and  contemplation,  as  for 
example,  what  he  says  about  style  and  manner,  &lc. 

Fare  you  right  well.  Heartily  do  I  rejoice  at  the  pros- 
pect of  our  evenings.  My  Avife  is  very  curious  about  the 
Comets  that  are  circling  through  the  Heaven  of  Love  and 
Hymen.    Greet  Meyer. 

SCH. 

cccxc. 

The  new  works  of  Art  in  our  house  bring  us  to-day  an 
early  visit  of  ladies  ;  on  this  account,  only  so  much  in 
haste. 

A  description  of  the  capabilities  of  our  actors  I  will  my- 
self make  for  you  in  a  few  days,  with  particular  reference 


SCHILLER  AND  GOETHE. 


375 


to  your  piece,  of  the  demands  of  which  I  have  a  general 
notion. 

For  the  rest,  do  you  only  go  on  without  anxiety.  The 
inward  unity  that  Wallenstein  will  have  must  be  felt,  and 
you  have  great  privileges  on  the  stage.  An  ideal  whole 
makes  an  imposing  impression  on  people,  even  though  they 
are  not  capable  of  deciphering  it  in  detail,  nor  of  appreciat- 
ing the  merit  of  the  individual  parts. 

From  a  singular  cause  I  am  required  to  reflect  upon  the 
German  Theatre  in  general,  and  as  I  am  often  obliged  to 
sit  in*the  play-house  against  my  will,  I  try  to  turn  this 
sacrifice  to  some  account. 

Fare  you  right  well ;  I  rejoice  that  the  time  approaches 
which  will  bestow  on  me  a  collected  existence  and  your 
neighborhood. 

Weimar,  13th  December,  1797. 

G 

CCCXCI. 

Jena,  15th  December,  1797. 

Our  Poetess  Mereau  is  with  me,  and  so  for  to-day  I  can 
only  write  a  few  words. 

Of  the  Historical  Essay,  which  I  here  send  back,  and  Oi 
others  of  the  same  stamp,  there  is  not  much  to  be  made. 
It  is  far  too  dry  and  barren,  and  in  spite  of  the  useless 
parade  with  authorities  and  historic  reading,  contains 
nothing  new  of  the  slightest  importance  that  could  throw 
light  upon  the  event  or  even  make  it  more  interesting.  If, 
however,  the  intention  is  merely  to  earn  something  with  it, 
this  will  be  sooner  attained  by  insertion  in  journals  like  the 
Mercury  and  others,  than  by  making  a  separate  collec- 
tion. 


376 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


I  have  already  often  wished,  that  among  the  many  lite- 
rary speculations  of  men  who  are  capable  of  no  other  work 
than  that  of  compilation,  some  one  would  fall  upon  the 
idea  of  hunting  up  poetic  subjects  in  old  books,  and  should 
possess,  at  the  same  time,  a  certain  tact,  to  discover  the 
punctum  saliens  in  a  story  of  no  apparent  interest.  I  have 
never  access  to  such  sources,  and  my  poverty  in  such 
subjects  makes  me  really  more  unfruitful  in  producing  than 
I  otherwise  should  be.  It  seems  to  me  that  a  certain  Hy- 
ginus, a  Greek,  once  collected  a  number  of  tragic  fables, 
either  out  of  the  poets  or  for  their  use.  A  friend  like  this 
I  could  make  good  use  of.  A  wealth  in  materials  for 
possible  use  really  augments  one's  inward  wealth  ;  nay, 
more,  it  exercises  an  important  power  ;  and  it  is  of  itself  of 
great  use  to  put  life  into  a  subject,  if  only  in  thought,  and 
to  try  one's  self  thereon. 

Elisa  von  der  Recke  has  sent  me  a  play  of  her  own 
invention  and  execution,  with  plenipotentiary  right  to  alter 
and  to  erase.  I  will  see  whether  1  can  use  it  for  the 
Horen;  it  is,  as  you  caii  easily  imagine,  of  a  very  moral 
character,  and  so  I  hope  it  may  slip  through.  I  must 
provide  in  every  way  for  the  Horen.  And  that  such  moral 
people  surrender  themselves  at  discretion  to  us  heretics 
and  free  thinkers,  particularly  after  the  so  crying  misde- 
meanor with  the  Xenia,  is  always  a  certain  satisfaction. 

Humboldt  has  again  let  us  hear  nothing  from  him  for  six 
weeks.  I  conclude  from  this  that  he  has  at  last  gone  to 
Paris. 

Farewell  for  to-day.    My  wife  sends  best  greetings. 

SCH. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


377 


CCCXCII. 

Here  I  send  you  Hyginus,  and  I  would  at  the  same 
time  advise  you  to  procure  the  Adagia  of  Erasmus,  which 
are  easily  to  be  had.  As  the  ancient  sayings  rest  mostly 
on  geographical,  historical,  national,  and  individual  rela- 
tions, they  contain  a  great  treasure  of  material  substance. 
Unhappily  we  know  from  experience,  that  no  one  can  seek 
a  poet's  subjects  for  him  ;  nay,  that  he  himself  often  makes 
mistakes. 

The  Horen  have  now,  as  it  seems,  their  female  period  ; 
't  will  %e  well  if  they  only  thereby  maintain  their  literary 
life. 

I  am  just  now  fit  neither  for  large  things  nor  small,  and 
am  only  reading  meanwhile,  in  order  to  keep  with  the 
good,  Herodotus  and  Thucydides,  in  which  for  the  first 
time  I  have  a  perfectly  pure  pleasure,  because  I  read  them 
only  on  account  of  their  form  and  not  their  contents. 

My  greatest  wish  now  is  to  be  soon  with  you  and  to 
feel  once  more  the  approach  of  the  Sun  ;  in  the  meantime 
I  make  as  good  use  as  possible  of  the  gloomy  and  bad 
days.    Fare  you  right  well,  and  do  you  the  like. 

Weimar,  16th  December,  1797. 

G. 

CCCXCIII. 

I  WISH  and  hope  that  the  present  letter  may  find  you 
again  in  a  tolerable  state  of  health,  and  I  thank  your  deaK 
wife  for  her  letter,  which  gave  me  an  especial  pleasure 
through  the  transmission  of  the  vigorous  marrowy  natural 
products. 

Your  letter  of  the  second  of  October,  together  with  the 


378 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


Almanac,  has  also  come  back  again,  and  there  is  therefore 
wanting  nothing  more  in  our  reciprocal  correspondence. 

Since  the  appearance  of  Schlegel's  review  of  my  Herr- 
mann, I  have  again  thought  over  the  laws  of  the  Epopee 
and  the  Drama,  and  think  I  am  in  a  good  path.  The  dif- 
ficulty in  these  theoretical  endeavors  is  always  to  free  the 
different  species  of  poetry  from  everything  accidental. 
You  will  at  an  early  day  receive  a  small  treatise  thereon, 
and  I  will  not  therefore  say  anything  beforehand. 

Meyer  knows  very  well  the  author  of  the  Elegies  in  the 
Almanac,  and  will  himself  one  day  give  you  an  account  of 
him  ;  he  is  a  sculptor  by  vocation.  I  long  for  nothing  now 
so  much  as  for  your  Wallenstein. 

Do  recover  soon  again  from  your  illness.  Would  that 
I  could  spend  with  you  these  days  which  promise  to  be  so 
cheerful ! 

Weimar,  20lh  December,  1797. 

G. 

CCCXCIV. 

Jena,  22d  December,  1797. 

My  bad  attack  passed  off  quickly  and  happily,  but  it  has 
weakened  and  untuned  me  for  the  whole  week,  so  that  I 
cannot  even  think  of  anything  poetic.  To  this,  too,  comes 
the  bad  weather,  to  make  all  activity  stagnate  within  me. 

Schlegel's  review  of  your  Herrmann  I  have  not  yet  seen, 
and  know  not  by  which  Schlegel  it  is.  Be  it,  however,  by 
which  one  it  will,  neither  is  fully  equal  to  doing  it ;  for  to 
appreciate  this  poem  there  is  required  especially  a  refined 
sensibility,  and  in  this  both  are  deficient,  although  they 
assume  to  themselves  the  terminology  thereof. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


379 


Your  treatise  occasioned  thereby  I  await  with  eager- 
ness; or  will  you  not  soon  bring  it  yourself? 

We  should  like  very  much  to  know  how  soon  we  may 
count  upon  your  arrival.  It  will  now  soon  be  a  half  year 
that  we  have  not  lived  together. 

I  beg  you  to  greet  Meyer  for  me.  I  am  very  sorry  to 
be  so  long  without  seeing  his  works. 

Fare  you  right  well. 

SCH. 

cccxcv. 

"ON   EPIC   AND   DRAMATIC  POETRY 
BY 

GOETHE    AND  SCHILLER.* 

The  Epic  and  Dramatic  poet  are  both  subject  to  univer- 
sal laws,  especially  to  the  law  of  unity  and  the  law  of  de- 
velopment;  further,  they  both  treat  of  similar  subjects, 
and  both  may  use  all  kinds  of  motives  ;t  the  great  essen- 
tial difference  between  them  consists  therein,  that  the  Epic 
poet  presents  the  event  as  perfectly  past,  and  the  Dramatic 
represents  it  as  perfectly  present.  If  any  one  should  wish 
to  derive  from  the  nature  of  man  the  detail  of  the  laws 
according  to  which  both  are  to  proceed,  he  must  figure  to 
himself  a  rhapsodist  and  a  mimic,  the  former  surrounded 

*  Goethe  unites  Schiller's  name  with  his  own,  because  the  opi- 
nions here  set  forth  by  him  were  chiefly  the  result  of  their  discussion 
of  the  subject  in  letters  and  conversation. 

t  By  motives,  motiven  in  German,  are  here  meant  the  sources 
of  action  in  a  poetic  work. 


380 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


with  his  quiet  listening  circle,  the  latter  with  his  impatient 
gazing  and  hearing  circle,  and  it  would  not  be  difficult  to 
unfold  what  profits  most  each  of  those  two  kinds  of  poe- 
try, what  subjects  each  will  in  preference  choose,  of  what 
motives  it  will  in  preference  avail  itself ;  I  say  in  prefer- 
ence, for,  as  I  already  in  the  beginning  remarked,  neither 
can  exclusively  assume  anything  to  itself. 

The  subjects  of  the  Epos  and  of  Tragedy  should  be 
purely  human,  important  and  pathetic  ;  the  personages 
stand  best  on  a  certain  grade  of  civilisation,  where  the 
inward  activity  is  still  directed  solely  on  itself,  where  one 
does  not  exert  influence  morally,  politically,  mechanically, 
but  personally.  The  traditions  out  of  the  heroic  times  of 
the  Greeks  were  in  this  sense  particularly  favorable  to  the 
poets. 

The  Epic  poem  exhibits  particularly  personally  restrict- 
ed activity  ;  Tragedy,  personally  restricted  sufi'ering.  The 
Epic  poem  represents  man  acting  out  of  himself, — battles, 
travels,  every  kind  of  undertaking  that  requires  a  certain 
physical  breadth  :  Tragedy,  man  led  inward ;  and  the  ac- 
tions of  genuine  Tragedy  need  therefore  very  little  room. 

Of  motives,  I  know  five  kinds  : 

1 .  Forward  striding^  which  further  the  action  ;  of  these 
the  Drama  chiefly  avails  itself. 

2.  Backward  striding,  which  carry  the  action  away 
from  its  aim ;  of  these  the  Epic  poem  avails  itself  almost 
exclusively. 

3.  Retarding,  which,  arrest  the  progress,  or  lengthen  the 
road ;  of  these,  both  species  avail  themselves  with  the 
greatest  advantage. 

4.  Back  grasping,  through  which  that  which  happened 
before  the  epoch  of  the  poem,  is  taken  up  into  it. 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


381 


5.  Forward  grasping^  which  anticipate  that  which  will 
happen  after  the  epoch  of  the  poem  ;  both  the  Epic  and 
Dramatic  poet  use  these  two  kinds,  to  make  their  poems 
complete. 

The  worlds,  that  are  to  be  brought  to  view,  are  common 
to  both. 

1 .  The  physical,  and  first  that  which  is  nearest,  to  which 
the  represented  personages  belong  and  which  surrounds 
them ;  in  this  the  Dramatic  poet  stands  for  the  most  part 
fixed  on  one  point — the  Epic  moves  more  freely  in  a 
larger  space.  Secondly,  the  more  remote  physical  world, 
in  which  I  embrace  entire  Nature  ;  this  the  Epic  poet,  who 
in  general  appeals  to  the  imagination,  brings  nearer  through 
similes,  which  the  Dramatic  uses  more  sparingly. 

2.  The  moral  world  is  entirely  common  to  both,  and  is 
most  advantageously  exhibited  in  its  physiological  and  pa- 
thological simplicity. 

3.  The  world  of  phantasies,  bodings,  apparitions,  acci- 
dents, and  fatalities.  This  is  open  to  both,  only  it  is  to  be 
understood,  that  it  be  brought  in  contact  with  the  world  of 
sense  ;  and  here  arises  for  the  moderns  a  particular  diffi- 
culty, because,  however  much  it  were  to  be  desired,  we  do 
not  easily  find  a  substitute  for  the  prodigies,  gods,  pro- 
phets and  oracles  of  the  ancients. 

As  regards  the  treatment  on  the  whole,  the  Rhapsodist, 
who  holds  up  to  us  the  perfectly  past,  will  appear  as  a 
wise  man,  who,  in  calm  thoughtfulness,  surveys  what  has 
happened ;  his  discourse  will  aim  to  calm  his  auditors  in 
order  that  they  may  listen  to  him  with  contentment  and 
long ;  he  will  apportion  the  interest  equally,  because  it  is 
not  in  his  power  quickly  to  balance  a  too  lively  impres- 
sion ;  he  will  grasp  or  go  backwards  or  forwards  at  plea- 


382 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


sure  ;  he  will  be  followed  throughout,  for  he  has  only  to  do 
with  the  faculty  of  imagination,  which  itself  produces  its 
images,  and  to  which,  up  to  a  certain  degree,  it  is  indiffer- 
ent what  kind  it  calls  up.  The  Rhapsodist  should  not 
himself  appear  as  a  higher  being  in  his  poem ;  it  would 
be  much  the  best  that  he  read  behind  a  curtain,  so  that 
there  would  be  a  total  abstraction  from  personality,  and  it 
would  seem  as  though  one  heard  only  the  voice  of  the 
Muses. 

The  Mimic,  on  the  other  hand,  is  precisely  in  the  oppo- 
site case  ;  he  presents  himself  as  a  definite  individual,  he 
wishes  that  we  take  an  interest  exclusively  in  him  and 
what  is  immediately  round  him,  that  we  feel  with  him  the 
sufferings  of  his  body  and  his  soul,  share  his  embarrass- 
ments and  forget  ourselves  in  him.  It  is  true,  that  he  will 
go  to  work  by  degrees,  but  he  can  venture  upon  much 
more  lively  strokes,  because,  with  sensuous  presence,  even 
the  stronger  impression  may  be  effaced  by  a  weaker  one . 
The  gazing  listener  must  necessarily  remain  with  his 
senses  constantly  on  the  stretch,  he  cannot  lift  himself  up 
to  reflection,  he  must  follow  with  his  passions,  his  imagina- 
tion is  silenced,  no  demands  can  be  made  on  it,  and  even 
what  is  narrated  must  as  it  were  be  brought  visibly  be- 
fore us. 

Inclosed  you  receive  my  Essay,  which  I  beg  you  to 
weigh,  to  apply,  to  modify,  and  to  enlarge.  I  have  for  a 
few  days  past  made  use  of  these  criteria  in  reading  the 
Iliad  and  Sophocles,  as  well  as  on  some  epic  and  tragic 
subjects,  which  I  endeavored  in  thought  to  organize,  and 
they  appeared  to  me  very  available,  nay  decisive. 

On  this  occasion  it  occurred  to  me  how  it  happens,  that 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


383 


we  moderns  are  so  inclined  to  mix  the  different  kinds  of 
poetry  together,  nay,  that  we  are  not  at  all  capable  of  dis- 
tinguishing them  one  from  another.  It  seems  to  me  to 
proceed  from  this,  that  artists,  who  ought  to  produce  works 
of  Art  within  their  pure  conditions,  complacently  yield  to 
that  striving  of  spectators  and  hearers  to  find  everything 
perfectly  true.  Meyer  has  remarked  that  there  has  been 
an  attempt  to  force  all  kinds  of  plastic  art  up  to  painting, 
because  this  can,  through  keeping  and  color,  present  the 
imitation  as  perfectly  true.  So  also  in  the  progress  of 
poetry,  one  sees  that  everything  runs  with  the  dramatic, 
into  the  exhibition  of  the  perfectly  present.  So  are  novels 
inletters  fully  romantic  ;  thence  formal  dialogues  may  pro- 
perly be  introduced,  as  Richardson  has  done  ;  on  the  other 
hand,  narrative  novels  with  dialogues  intermixed,  would 
be  censurable. 

You  will  have  heard  a  hundred  times,  that  people,  after 
reading  a  good  novel,  have  wished  to  see  the  subject  on 
the  stage,  and  how  many  bad  plays  have  thence  arisen ! 
Just  so  they  wish  to  see  every  interesting  situation  in  a 
novel  at  once  engraved,  in  order  that,  to  their  imagination, 
no  kind  of  activity  be  left ;  thus  everything  must  be 
brought  before  the  senses,  be  perfectly  present,  be  drama- 
tic, and  the  dramatic  itself  must  put  itself  fully  b}-^  the  side 
of  the  really  true.  Now,  these  thoroughly  childish,  bar- 
baric, tasteless  tendencies  the  artist  should  oppose  with 
all  his  might,  should  separate  work  from  work  with  im- 
passable magic  circles,  keep  each  one  to  its  quality  and  its 
peculiarities,  as  the  ancients  did,  and  thereby  became  and 
were  such  artists.  But  who  can  separate  his  ship  from 
the  waves  on  which  it  swims  ?  Against  wind  and  current 
one  makes  little  head-way. 


3B4 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


Thus,  for  example,  among  the  ancients,  bas-relief  was 
only  a  slightly  raised  work,  a  flat  tasteful  indication  of  a 
subject  on  a  flat  surface  ;  but  people  could  not  keep  to  that, 
it  was  half  raised,  wholly  raised,  limbs  were  separated 
from  the  surface,  figures  were  separated,  perspective  intro- 
duced, streets,  clouds,  mountains,  and  landscapes  repre- 
sented ;  and  because  this  took  place  through  men  of  talent, 
what  was  thoroughly  inadmissible  found  admission  the 
sooner,  as,  by  the  very  talent  applied,  it  was  adapted  the 
more  completely  to  the  minds  of  the  uncultivated.  So  in 
Meyer's  treatise,  is  related  the  story,  which  is  well  in  its 
place  here,  how  in  Florence  the  figures  made  of  clay  were 
first  glazed,  then  painted  with  one  color,  and  finally  with 
several,  and  enamelled. 

To  come  back,  now,  td  my  Essay,  I  have  applied  the 
scale  therein  proposed,  to  my  Herrmann  and  Dorothea,  and 
beg  you  to  do  the  same,  whereby  I  have  made  very  inter- 
esting observations  ;  as,  for  example, 

1.  That  no  exclusively  epic  motive,  that  is,  none  that 
retrogrades,  is  found  therein,  but  that  only  the  four  others, 
which  the  Epic  poem  has  in  common  with  the  Drama,  are 
made  use  of. 

2.  That  it  represents  not  men  acting  out  of  themselves, 
but  men  led  inward,  and  thereby  also  is  removed  from  the 
Epopee,  and  approaches  the  Drama. 

3.  That  it  abstains  from  similitudes  with  reason,  be- 
cause, to  a  more  moral  subject,  the  intrusion  of  images 
from  physical  nature  would  be  burthensome. 

4.  That  out  of  the  third  world,  although  this  is  extraor- 
dinary, it  has  received  quite  enough  influence,  inasmuch  as 
the  great  world-destiny  is  interwoven,  in  part  really,  and 
in  part  through  persons  symbolically,  and  of  bodement,  of 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


385 


connection  between  a  visible  and  invisible  world,  gentle 
indications  are  also  given,  which,  together,  according  to 
my  conviction,  stand  in  the  place  of  the  ancient  figures  of 
gods,  whose  physical  poetical  power  is  indeed  not  thereby 
supplied. 

In  conclusion  I  must  further  announce  to  you  a  strange' 
task  that  I  have  given  myself  in  reference  to  this  matter, 
namely,  to  investigate  whether  between  Hector's  death 
and  the  departure  of  the  Greeks  from  the  Trojan  coast, 
there  does  or  does  not  lie  another  Epic  poem  ?  I  almost 
presume  the  latter,  and  that  for  the  following  reasons  : 

1.  Because  there  is  found  nothing  retrogressive,  but 
everything  strides  irresistibly  forward. 

2.  Because  all  the  events  that  are  in  some  measure 
retarding  divide  the  interest  among  several  persons,  and 
although  in  a  great  mass,  yet  not  unlike  private  destinies. 
The  Death  of  Achilles  seems  to  me  a  noble  tragic  subject ; 
the  death  of  Ajax,  the  return  of  Philoctetes,  have  come 
down  to  us  from  the  ancients.  Polyxena,  Hecuba,  and 
other  subjects  out  of  this  epoch,  were  also  treated.  The 
conquest  of  Troy  itself  is,  as  the  moment  of  fulfilment  of 
a  great  destiny,  neither  epic  nor  tragic,  and  in  a  genuine 
epic  treatment  can  only  be  seen  forwards  or  backwards  in 
the  distance.  Virgil's  rhetorical  sentimental  treatment 
cannot  here  come  into  view. 

So  much  of  what  I  at  present  discern,  salvo  meliori ; 
for,  if  I  mistake  not,  this  subject  is,  like  many  others, 
theoretically  inexpressible.  What  Genius  has  produced, 
we  at  any  rate  see  ;  who  will  say  what  it  could  and 
should  produce  ? 

G. 

17 


386 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN' 


CCCXCVI. 

The  contraposition  of  the  Rhapsodist  and  Mimic,  to- 
gether with  their  respective  auditories,  seems  to  me  a  very 
happily  chosen  means  to  get  at  the  difference  of  the  two 
kinds  of  poetry.  This  method  alone  would  be  sufficient 
'to  render  impossible  a  gross  mistake  in  the  choice  of  the 
subject  for  the  kind  of  poetry,  or  of  the  kind  of  poetry 
for  the  subject.  Experience  also  confirms  it ;  for  I  know 
of  nothing  that  would  hold  one,  who  was  working  out  a 
drama,  so  strictly  within  the  limits  of  the  poetic  species, 
and  in  case  one  should  overstep  them,  would  so  surely 
bring  him  back,  as  the  liveliest  possible  fiiguring  to  himself 
of  the  real  representation  on  the  boards  of  a  thronged  and 
promiscuous  house,  whereby  is  brought  so  home  to  one 
the  unquiet  expectation,  and  consequently  the  law  of  in- 
tense restless  forward-striding  and  movement. 

I  would  propose  a  second  expedient  for  bringing  to 
view  this  difference.  The  dramatic  action  moves  itself 
before  me,  around  the  epic  I  move,  and  it  appears  as  it 
were  to  stand  still.  According  to  my  opinion,  there  is 
much  in  this  difference.  If  the  event  keeps  itself  in 
motion  before  me,  I  am  strictly  chained  to  the  present,  my 
fancy  loses  all  freedom,  there  arises  and  continues  an  in- 
cessant unrest  in  me,  I  must  always  stick  to  the  object, 
all  looking  back,  all  reflection  is  denied  to  me,  because  I 
obey  a  foreign  power.  If  I  move  round  the  event,  which 
cannot  escape  me,  I  can  then  go  at  an  irregular  gait,  I 
can  tarry  a  longer  or  a  shorter  time,  according  to  my  sub- 
jective need,  I  can  make  steps  backward  or  forward,  &e. 
This  accords  also  very  well  with  the  idea  of  the  pasi^ 
which  can  be  conceived  as  standing  still,  and  with  the 
idea  of  narration ;  for  the  narrator  knows  already  in  the 


SCHILLKR   AND  ÜOETHE. 


387 


beginning  and  in  the  middle  the  end,  and  to  him  conse- 
quently each  movement  of  the  active  is  of  equal  import, 
and  thus  he  maintains  throughout  a  calm  freedom. 

That  the  Epic  poet  has  to  treat  his  event  as  perfectly- 
past,  the  Tragic  his  as  perfectly  present,  is  very  clear  to 
me. 

I  will  further  add  :  there  grows  out  of  this  an  exciting 
conflict  of  Poetry  as  Geims  with  its  Species,  which,  in 
Nature  as  in  Art,  is  very  animated.  Poetry,  as  such, 
makes  everything  sensuously  present,  and  so  it  obliges 
the  Epic  poet  likewise  to  make  present  what  is  past,  only 
that  the  character  of  this  past  must  not  be  defaced.  Po- 
etry, as  such,  makes  all  that  is  present  past,  and  removes 
to  a  distance  all  that  is  near  (through  Ideality),  and  thus  it 
obliges  the  Dramatic  poet  to  keep  far  removed  individual 
reality  which  always  tends  to  force  itself  upon  us,  and  to 
impart  to  the  mind  a  poetic  freedom  against  the  subject. 
Tragedy,  therefore,  in  its  highest  idea,  will  always  strive 
upwards  to  the  Epic  character,  and  only  thereby  attains  to 
being  poetry.  The  Epic  poem  will  just  so  strive  down- 
wards to  the  Drama,  and  only  thereby  perfectly  fulfil  the 
idea  of  poetic  genus  ;  just  that  which  makes  both  to  be 
poetic  works,  brings  both  near  to  one  another.  The 
token  by  which  they  are  specified  and  opposed  to  one 
another,  always  brings  one  of  the  two  constituent  parts  of 
the  poetic  generic  idea  into  danger ;  with  the  Epopee 
Sensuousness,  with  Tragedy  Freedom ;  and  it  is  therefore 
natural,  that  the  contrcpoids  against  this  defect  will  al- 
ways be  a  quality  which  constitutes  the  specific  token  of 
the  opposite  species.  Each,  therefore,  will  do  the  other 
the  service  of  taking  the  Genus  under  its  protection 
against  the  Species.    That  this  reciprocal  tendency  to- 


388 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


wards  each  other  shall  not  degenerate  into  a  mingling  and 
confounding  of  boundaries,  that  is  just  the  proper  duty  of 
Art,  whose  brightest  point  in  general  is  always  this,  to 
unite  character  with  beauty,  purity,  and  fullness,  unity  with 
universality. 

Your  Herrmann  has  really  a  certain  inclination  to 
Tragedy,  if  you  place  it  by  the  side  of  the  pure  severe  idea 
of  the  Epopee.  The  heart  is  occupied  more  warmly  and 
earnestly  ;  there  is  therein  more  pathological  interest  than 
poetic  indifference.  So  also  do  the  narrowness  of  the 
locale,  the  fewness  of  the  figures,  the  short  range  of  the 
action  belong  to  Tragedy.  On  the  other  hand,  your 
Iphigenia  evidently  strikes  into  the  Epic  field,  so  soon  as 
you  hold  up  to  it  the  strict  idea  of  Tragedy.  Of  Tasso,  I 
will  not  speak  at  all.  For  Tragedy,  there  is  in  Iphige- 
nia a  too  tranquil  progress,  a  too  great  tarrying  by  the 
way,  not  to  consider  the  catastrophe,  which  contradicts 
Tragedy.  The  effect  of  this  piece,  as  I  have  experienced 
it,  partly  on  myself,  partly  on  others,  is  generic,  poetic 
and  tragic  ;  and  so  it  always  will  be  when  a  Tragedy,  in 
the  Epic  style,  misses  its  end.  But,  in  your  Iphigenia, 
this  approximation  to  the  Epic  is  a  fault,  according  to  my 
idea ;  in  your  Herrmann  the  inclination  to  Tragedy  is 
obviously  no  fault,  at  least  in  the  effect  not  at  all  so. 
Does  this  perhaps  proceed  thence,  that  Tragedy  is  de- 
signed for  a  definite  use,  the  Epic  poem  for  a  universal 
and  free  one  ? 

For  to-day  nothing  more.  I  am  still  unfit  for  any  regu- 
lar work,  only  your  letter  and  treatise  have  been  able  in 
the  meanwhile  to  give  me  occupation.  Farewell. 

SCH. 


SCHILLER   AiND  GOETHE. 


389 


CCCXCVII. 

Sorry  as  L  am  to  hear  that  you  have  not  yet  recovered 
all  your  activity,  it  is,  nevertheless,  agreeable  to  me  that 
my  letter  and  treatise  have,  in  some  measure,  occupied 
you.  I  thank  you  for  yours,  which  carries  still  further  a 
matter  which  must  be  so  important  to  us.  Unhappily  we 
moderns  are  also  occasionally  born  poets,  and  we  fret  our- 
selves round  through  the  Genus  of  Poetry,  without  rightly 
knowing  what  we  should  be  at ;  for  the  specific  indica- 
tions, if  I  mistake  not,  should  come  from  without,  and  the 
occasion  give  direction  to  the  talent.  Why  do  we  so  sel- 
dom make  an  epigram  in  the  Grecian  sense  ?  Because 
we  see  so  few  things  that  deserve  one.  Why  are  we  so 
successful  with  the  epic  ?  Because  we  have  no  listeners. 
And  why  is  the  striving  after  theatrical  works  so  great  ? 
Because,  with  us,  the  drama  is  the  only  attractive  kind  of 
poetry  that  addresses  itself  to  the  senses,  from  whose 
practice  one  can  hope  for  a  certain  present  enjoyment. 

I  have  continued  these  past  days  to  study  the  Iliad,  in 
order  to  consider  whether,  between  it  and  the  Odyssey, 
there  lie  not  another  epopee.  I  find,  however,  only  tra- 
gic subjects,  either  that  such  is  really  the  case,  or  that  I 
only  cannot  find  the  epic  one.  The  Death  of  Achilles, 
with  its  accompaniments,  would  admit  of  an  epic  treat- 
ment, and,  in  a  certain  measure,  would  require  it,  on 
account  of  the  breadth  of  the  material  to  be  worked  up. 
Now  would  arise  the  question,  whether  one  would  do  well 
likewise  to  treat  a  tragic  subject  epically  ?  Much  may  be 
said  for  and  against  it.  As  regards  the  effect,  a  modern, 
who  works  for  moderns,  would  always  find  advantage  in 
it,  because  without  pathological  interest  one  will  hardly 
obtain  the  approbation  of  the  age.    So  much  for  this  time. 


390 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 


Meyer  is  working  diligently  at  his  treatise  on  subjects 
suitable  for  the  plastic  Arts  ;  everything  that  interests  us 
comes  up  for  consideration,  and  it  is  shown  how  closely 
related  the  plastic  artist  is  to  the  dramatist. 

27th  December,  1797. 

G. 

CCCXCVIl.  (a) 

Jena,  29th  December,  1797. 

Our  friend  Humboldt,  from  whom  I  here  enclose  to  you 
a  long  letter,  remains  in  transformed  Paris,  true  to  his  old 
Germanism,  and  seems  to  have  changed  nothing  but  his 
outward  environment.  With  a  certain  way  of  philosophiz- 
ing and  of  feeling,  it  is  as  with  a  certain  religion ;  it  cuts 
off  from  without  and  isolates,  at  the  same  time  that  from 
within  it  increases  the  heartiness. 

Your  present  occupation,  to  separate  and  to  purify  the 
two  kinds,  is,  indeed,  of  the  highest  importance,  but  with 
me  you  will  be  convinced,  that  to  exclude  from  a  work  of 
art  all  that  is  foreign  to  its  kind,  one  should  also  necessa- 
rily be  able  to  include  everything  that  is  suitable  to  the 
kind.  But  it  is  just  this  that  is  now  wanting.  Because 
we  cannot  bring  the  conditions  together  under  which  each 
of  the  two  kinds  stand,  we  are  obliged  to  confound  them. 
Were  there  rhapsodists  and  a  world  for  them,  the  epic 
would  then  not  need  to  borrow  motives  from  the  tragic, 
and  had  we  the  aids  and  intensive  powers  of  the  Greek 
tragedy,  and  therewith  the  privilege  to  lead  our  hearers 
through  a  series  of  seven  representations,  we  should  not 
then  need  to  extend  our  dramas  to  an  unreasonable 
length.  The  capacity  of  feeling  in  the  spectator  and 
hearer  must  be  filled,  and  be  touched  in  all  the  points  of  its 


SCHILLER   AND  GOETHE. 


391 


periphery ;  the  diameter  of  this  capacity  is  the  measure 
for  the  poet.  And  because  the  moral  quality  is  that  which 
is  most  developed,  it  is  that  also  which  exacts  the  most, 
and  we  may  dare  at  our  peril  to  neglect  it. 

If  the  drama  has  really  come  into  vogue  through  so  bad 
a  tendency  of  the  age,  which  I  do  not  doubt,  reform  should 
be  commenced  with  the  drama,  and  air  and  light  should  be 
let  in  upon  Art  by  driving  out  the  common  imitation  of 
nature.  And  this,  it  seems  to  me,  could  be  best  done,  by 
the  introduction  of  symbolic  shifts,  which,  in  all  that  does 
not  belong  to  the  true  world  of  Art  of  the  poet,  and,  there- 
fore, is  not  to  be  exhibited,  but  merely  indicated,  should 
take  the  place  of  the  subject.  I  have  not  yet  been  able 
fully  to  unfold  to  myself  this  idea  of  the  symbolical  in 
poetry,  but  there  seems  to  me  to  be  much  in  it.  Were  its 
use  once  defined,  the  natural  consequence  would  be,  that 
poetry  would  purify  itself,  would  contract  its  world  into  a 
narrower  and  more  significant  compass,  and  within  the 
same  become  so  much  the  more  effective. 

I  had  always  a  certain  faith  in  the  Opera,  that  out  of  it, 
as  out  of  the  choruses  of  the  ancient  festival  of  Bacchus, 
tragedy  would  develope  itself  in  a  higher  form.  In  the 
Opera,  one  is  free  from  that  servile  imitation  of  nature, 
and,  although  only  under  the  name  of  indulgence,  in  this 
way  the  ideal  might  steal  upon  the  stage.  Through  the 
power  of  music,  and  through  a  freer  harmonious  excite- 
ment of  the  senses,  the  Opera  attunes  the  mind  to  a  finer 
sensibility ;  here  then  is  really,  even  in  pathos,  a  freer 
play,  because  Music  accompanies  it,  and  the  wonderful, 
which  is  here  borne  with,  necessarily  creates  indifference 
a^to  the  subject. 


392  CORRESPONDENCE   BETWEEN,  &C. 

I  am  very  anxious  to  see  Meyer's  treatise  ;  no  doubt 
many  applications  to  poetry  will  be  deducible  from  it. 

By  degrees  I  get  into  my  work  again,  but  with  this  hor- 
rible weather  it  is  really  hard  to  keep  one's  mind  elastic. 

May  you  soon  be  free,  and  bring  with  you  to  me, 
activity,  courage,  and  life.    Fare  you  right  well. 

SCH. 

CCCXCVII.  (b) 

As  I  expect  early  to-day  a  company  to  see  Meyer's 
works,  I  will  only  herewith  thank  you  for  your  and  Hum- 
boldt's letter. 

I  am  of  your  opinion  that  we  must  separate  so  severely, 
only  in  order  afterwards  to  be  able  to  allow  oneself  some 
scope  by  making  adoptions  from  foreign  sources.  One 
works  altogether  differently  from  principles  than  from  in- 
stinct, and  a  deviation,  of  the  necessity  whereof  one  is  con- 
vinced, cannot  become  a  fault. 

Theoretic  views  cannot  much  longer  suffice  me  ;  I  must 
now  once  more  go  to  work,  and  for  that  I  must  betake  my- 
self to  the  old  Jena  sopha,  as  to  a  tripod.  Fare  you  right 
well.  I  am  sorry  that  your  dear  wife  hurried  away  again 
so  soon,  and  could  not  even  make  a  pilgrimage  to  our 
treasures  of  Art.  The  hope  which  you  had  in  the  Opera, 
you  would  lately  have  seen  fulfilled  in  Don  Juan  in  a  high 
degree  ;  in  that  respect,  however,  this  piece  stands  quite 
isolated,  and  through  Mozart's  death,  all  prospect  of  any- 
thing similar  is  frustrated. 

Weimar,  30th  December,  1797. 


